Young God
by NeferNeferNefer
Summary: Hercules is invited to king Creon's palace, where he meets his daughter Megara. Too bad she is already promised to marry someone else. An AU version of Disney's Hercules.
1. Where the Young Hero Meet

**First Chapter: Where the Young Hero Meets a Princess  
**

"_He says, "Ooh, baby girl, you know we're gonna be legends_  
_I'm a king and you're a queen and we will stumble through heaven_  
_If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes_  
_I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight"_

_And I've been sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool_  
_For a while now, drowning my thoughts out with the sounds_

_But do you feel like a young god?_  
_You know the two of us are just young gods_  
_And we'll be flying through the streets with the people underneath_  
_And they're running, running, running."_

_Young God_ by Halsey

* * *

_Something was amiss. There were lots of people entering her mother's private quarters, her private bedroom. The girl followed the mass of people and nobody tried to stop her, they hadn't obviously noticed her yet. She swallowed with some difficulty, feel of dread rising in her stomach. And then she saw her, her own mother, lying in the pool of blood, her own blood._

_"By all Gods, she cut her own wrists…" somebody muttered._

_"The deaths of her sons must have been too much her to take in. May the Gods let her find her peace," another person stated._

_The room was spinning around her, she felt like she was going to be sick and pass out at the same time._

_She was shook out of her reverie as someone put a firm hand on her shoulder, guiding her to the hallway, away from the gruesome sight._

_"Oh Megara, you shouldn't have entered," her grandmother, Harmonia, sighed with tears filling her eyes._

_Megara, Meg, had no chance to answer before her father stormed in, Meg's two younger sisters following in her father's tow._

_"Where is she, where is my wife?" the frantic king paid no mind to his eldest daughter and entered the room._

_"Megara, look after your sisters!" Harmonia told her grand-daughter before rushing after her son._

_Her two younger sisters tried to follow their father's suit, but Meg wrapped her arms around them, pulling them for a tight hug. She could hear their father's agonized cries, mourning for his lost wife. He too had lost his sons and now he had lost his wife as well. The queenmother tried to soothe him, ease his pain, to no avail._

_"Where is mama?" the youngest of the sisters ask, hiccuping for crying so much._

_"Shh, shh, I'm here. It's gonna be okay, I promise," Meg tried to ran a soothing hand on her sister's hair. Her another sister shot a suspicious look at her: she was older, she knew that things would never be okay again._

_It was at that point that Meg realized that she and her sisters had first lost their brothers and now their mother._

* * *

_Seven years later…_

Meg hardly listened to her father as he tried to prepare her for the evening to come. They had another party later that evening, some important people from Thebes had been invited there. Those evenings were all the same, exchanging polite, meaningless words to people who thought they were more important than they actually were.

"And you have to be there on time, you understand me? You are the eldest, after all."

Meg fought back her sigh.

"Yes, father."

"Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, father," Meg replied once again.

"Good girl, you may go now," her father placed a absent-minded kiss on her forhead before dismissing her.

Meg walked away from the throneroom, heading out to the gardens and stopping there on her tracks.

_'Good girl.'_ Meg felt did what she was asked and yet, she felt as if she hardly existed. Like she was some sort of a pretty doll who had to do whatever was asked of her. She was sicked of it.

"Is everything alright, my dear?" Harmonia, her grandmother, came close to her, placing a soothing had on her shoulder.

"Yes," Meg replied with a sigh,

"You don't sound like you're alright," Harmonia replied, arching her perfectly manicured eyebrow.

"I'm just sick of this, sick of these social events and pretending everything's all right," Meg told her, turning away.

"It's not pretending, it's part of your role-"

"As a princess, I know! And I'm sick of it! I'm sick of not being able to decide anything for myself, not even who I'll marry!" Meg snapped back, instantly regretting shouting at her grandmother.

Harmonia seemed a little taken aback for her grand-daughter's sudden outburst. Harmonia felt sorry for her, after her mother's death it seemed that too much pressure was placed on Megara's shoulders.

"Honey, I know you feel stressed and sad, but maybe things get better after you get married, after you have your own court to rule over, hmm?" Harmonia tried to encourage her, placing a hand on her chin and lifting her gaze to level of her own eyes.

Meg was quite sure that marrying the old king Aedes would hardly make her life any easier: she wouldn't be under her father's command, but instead under her lord husband's command. _Oh what a joy._

"Yeah, maybe," Meg replied, faking her grandmother a smile.

"Good girl," Harmonia giving her shoulder an supportive pat and then headed to other direction.

Meg was left there standing alone. She was hardly the type to turn to the Gods with her worries, not after losing her mother. But at that moment, she was feeling more hopeless and lost then ever.

_'Oh Gods, any god of the Pantheon, is there really nothing more to the life then this?'_ she silently pleaded, gazing at the sky. After a few moments had passed and as nothing happened, she sighed and turned away, heading back to the palace. She had to get ready for the party at the evening, she had promised her father that she would be there on time for once.

* * *

The night air felt cool on his skin as Pegasus flew him across the city. He hardly heard as Phil was babbling on and on as he tried to make a point on the importance of the evening in question. The king Creon of Thebes had invited them on his party as honored guests after Hercules had saved the city from one monster after another. Hercules sighed as he knew that it was an honor to get invited to the royal palace, but he felt that he had more important things to do than socialize with the rich and the powerful.

More than anything, he wanted to regain his godhood and join his parents on mount Olympus and it was hard to see how this evening would help him with that. But Phil had made him clear that rejecting king's invitation was not a wise thing to do, so he would go there even if just for a little while.

After they had reached the royal palace of Cadmea and they had safely landed there, Hercules left Pegasus to the care of the royal stables. Then Phil and him made their way through the lush gardens and finally reached the main entrance of the palace. The great hall was brimming with people and an over-employed servant rushed over to hand the both of them a goblet of wine. Phil quickly gulped the wine down and took another cup as he left, obviously chasing after a woman who had just passed them by. Hercules shook his head at the antics of his trainer and then thanked the servant for the wine. As he was about to turn around, he suddenly felt an arm around his shoulders.

"So you made it! Welcome to my home, young hero!" The king himself had come to greet him and Hercules nervously smiled back.

"Thank you, your grace. It was very kind of you to invite me," Hercules replied, studying his host. The king was middle-aged man, tall and lean, with dark hair specked with some gray. He was still a handsome man, even though worry and stress had left its obvious traces on his face.

"Oh nonsense, it is the least thing I could do. Let me introduce my family to you, now where are my daughters? Oh there is Megara, late as usual," the king sighed as he gazed to the top of the stairs. As Hercules looked there, he felt his breath was taken away.

He saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen making her way down the stairs. Her auburn hair was up in a fancy hairdo and she wore white dress with golden jewellery: the most noticeable of it all was her golden tiara, a symbol of her royal status. She was tall and slender yet curvy and Hercules knew he had never seen anything as beautiful as she was. Not any royals or even the Gods could rival her beauty, and he had seen Aphrodite herself. He had heard rumors that one of the king Creon's daughters was said to be the most beautiful woman on the world, but Hercules had regarded that just as a rumor. People were tend to exaggerate, but as he saw her himself, he knew that this time the rumors were correct.

The princess was obviously still deep in her thoughts as she made her way down, she hadn't even noticed her father or him, even though they were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly the young woman gasped as she stepped on her long dress and fell down. With his quick reflexes, Hercules was there and suddenly he was holding her in his arms. He felt as if the time itself had stood still as the Fates had stopped their weaving as he held her in his arms. It simply felt _right_. The young woman looked at him wide-eyed, obviously taken by surprise and he looked back at her. He noticed the unusual color of her eyes: violet. _How fitting._

Then she smiled slyly and told him cockily: "Nice reflexes."

"Thanks." He smiled back at her, then helped her back on her feet and asked her: "Are you alright, your highness?"

She was about to reply something, but her father was faster than she was.

"Oh Megara, you should watch where you are going, dear! That girl is such a dreamer sometimes," The king scolded her. The young woman looked at her feet, obviously used to getting scolded at. Hercules suddenly felt bad for her. He knew how that felt.

"So this is my eldest daughter, princess Megara. Megara, this is Hercules, the saver of our city" king formally introduced his daughter to him and he bowed his head in respect.

"It is an honor to meet you, your highness," he told her formally, partially hoping that her father, even if he was the king who had invited him in the first place, _wasn't _there.

"Thank you for you work on our people's behalf. I hope you find our home hospitable," the princess, Megara, replied him. He couldn't help but notice that the tone of her voice and the chosen words seemed somehow off, as if they were forced: it was like she was repeating some mantra someone else had taught her.

"Well, we should go and greet other guests as well, my dear. Please enjoy your stay here," the king smiled benevolently at Hercules before he scurried his daughter away. Hercules sighed as they left. He knew it was selfish to wish that a member of the royal family would spend her evening socializing only with himself, but he had still wanted to speak with her some more, even if for a little while.

Rest of the party was uneventful and Hercules struggled to follow conversation with other guests. He really wasn't used to this kind of events and he felt himself anxious, trapped in the sea of people. His head was pounding from the stale palace air and as he felt he was struggling for his breath, he decided to head outside to the gardens to get some fresh air.

As he made his way outside to the fountain, he noticed he wasn't alone.

Hercules felt his heart skipping a beat as he noticed it was king Creon's daughter, Megara, who was sitting on the ledge of the fountain. She had let her long hair fall down in a simple ponytail and her golden tiara was sitting on the bench next to her. She seemed even lovelier than before.

But her head was hanging low and her shoulders were slumped: everything about her appearance told him that she was sad. Before he could say anything, she seemed to notice that she wasn't alone and lifted her head.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, your Highness," Hercules lifted his hands, feeling awkward for intruding. She looked at him, obviously pondering on something.

"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't be here-" Hercules was starting to turn away, but before he could leave, he heard her voice; "So you don't like them either, huh?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Hercules furrowed his brows as he thought about her sudden question.

The princess let out a small laugh and replied: "Parties. If you're out here too, it seems like you don't enjoy parties either." She gestured with her hand to the empty spot next to her on the brim of the fountain. Hercules nervously swallowed, cursing his Olympian family playing this practical joke on him as he had earlier on wished to speak with her: it seemed like someone had listened to his wishes.

"Yeah, well I'm not really good with social events like that," Hercules replied as he sat down next to her.

"I don't like them either. I know I should, I mean I'm a princess, I should be all about joy and sunshine and entertaining guests, but I'm not," the princess sighed. Suddenly Hercules felt privileged that she had told him this, that she had trusted him enough to confide in him. He smiled at her and she cautiously smiled at him back.

"So that's why you are alone in here?" He asked her kindly.

"It gives me time to think," she replied, looking sadly to the fountain.

"Think about what?" Hercules wanted to know what exactly had made her so sad.

"About my impending marriage," the princess sighed again. Hercules felt an odd feeling in his chest, as if someone was squeezing his heart. _Marriage? To whom?_

"You don't want to get married?" Hercules looked at her once again slumped form.

"My so-called fiancée is somewhere around fifty, he's over thirty years older than I am. Would you want to marry someone much older than yourself, someone you haven't even met?" The princess gave him a challenging look, her mouth forming a tight line.

"But that is awful! Does you father, the king, know how you feel?" Hercules felt horrified for her behalf. How could anyone do that to their own daughter, especially _her_?

"You think it matters what I think? He only wants to get me married to a good ally, what I think is not one of his priorities," the young princess replied him bitterly, obviously feeling defeated.

"I am very sorry to hear that, your Highness," Hercules told her, wanting to let her know that he thought that the king's decision had not been a correct one.

He gently placed his hand on hers and she froze for a moment. Hercules feared that he had taken a wrong decision, but she didn't pull away, even if she seemed a little cautious.

"Thank you. I don't think anyone can change my father's mind," the princess replied with a sigh.

"Well, let's hope that he'll change his mind on his own then," Hercules smiled softly at her.

She huffed a laugh. "You really are an optimist."

Hercules gave an awkward laugh as well.

"Yeah, I've heard quite often that I'm too naive for my own good."

"At least you are who you are, you're not like the most people at this place. They're so fake, only telling the other people exactly what they want to hear," the princess grimaced in disdain.

"You're not like them," Hercules told her, still holding her hand in his. He felt his pulse quickening. What was this? All his life, he had never felt like this.

"How do you know? Even I don't know who am I. I feel as if I was only my title, the princess, daughter of Creon. Like I wasn't even a real person," she than replied.

"Who would you like to be then?" He felt as he could get just lost in her eyes, she was so enthralling, her close proximaiy was making his head swim.

"Just me. Megara. Or rather, just Meg," the young woman replied as she gazed back at him. For a moment, they were lost in each others' eyes. The moment was suddenly gone as they heard a loud yell: "Hey kid! Where are ya'? Ya've got some work out first thing tomorrow, so we should get goin'!" Hercules jumped on his feet as he recognized Phil's voice. From all the moments he could have chosen, he had picked this one, Hercules cursed to himself.

And as from a cue, Phil suddenly appeared from the lush greenery, completely oblivious to the fact that he had possibly interrupted something.

"Ah-ha, found ya! Didn't know you had some company with ya'!" Phil replied, finally taking notice that his pupil wasn't alone.

"Phil, this is king Creon's daughter, Megara," Hercules awkwardly introduced the girl next to him to his trainer. Phil acknowledged the princess, _Meg_, by bowing his head in almost comical way. "I'm sorry to disturb, your highness, I was just looking for my student here."

Meg smiled, fighting back her laughter and simply replied: "I wouldn't want to keep the great hero from his duties."

Then she got up and turned to head back, but before leaving she told Hercules: "I hope we see again, young hero." She gave him a one last smile (which made his knees feel weak, even if he was the strongest man in the Grecian world) and before he had a chance to reply, she was gone.

As Phil and he made their way back to the stables to find Pegasus and as they headed home, all his thoughts revolved around her.

_Meg._

* * *

A/N: Dun dun DUN! I'm not completely satisfied with my next chapter for 'All this and Olympus too', so I decided to work on a plot bunny that has been nagging inside my head like forever. I've always thought about this scenario "so what would have happened if Herc and Meg met each other in different circumstances?" And honestly, even I'm not sure: we'll just have to see which direction this story will take. I'll try to update this story every now and then, but maybe not quite as regularly as 'All this and Olympus Too'. Peace and love, take care guys!


	2. The King and the Lion-heart

**Second Chapter: The King and The Lion-heart**

"_Taking over this town, they should worry,  
But these problems aside I think I taught you well.  
That we won't run, and we won't run, and we won't run._

_And in the winter night sky ships are sailing,  
Looking down on these bright blue city lights.  
And they won't wait, and they won't wait, and they won't wait.  
We're here to stay, we're here to stay, we're here to stay._

_Howling ghost they reappear  
In mountains that are stacked with fear  
But you're a king and I'm a lion-heart."_

_The King and The Lion-heart_ by Of Monsters and Men

That same evening, princess Megara's maid Andromeda was as usually helping her Highness to get ready for the night. However, she did notice that her lady was more distant and deep in her thought: more so, than she usually was. She had already helped the princess out her gown and now the princess was seated before her dresser as Andromeda combed her long auburn hair.

She gathered her courage and then asked her: "Is something troubling you, milady?"

The princess seemed surprised by her question as she was shook out of her reverie.

"Ah well, not really… I was just wondering…" The princess stammered, a rosy color rising to her cheeks. Andromeda was now even more curious. Truly, it was not her like her Highness to act this way.

"Wondering about what, your Highness?" she then replied her, gently pulling the comb through her hair.

"Do you know anything about that young hero my father had invited to the party tonight? I mean Hercules?" Megara tried to keep her voice as stable as possible. Andromeda forced to keep herself from smiling: now _this_ made more sense.

"Oh yes, I heard that he is the son of Zeus himself, turned into a mortal when he was a mere child. From what I have heard, he is both courageous and stronger then any mortal man as he still has his god-like strength. Even though all that, he is said to have a true and gentle heart, a hero in the truest meaning of that word," Andromeda recounted aloud all that she had heard about this young hero to her lady.

Megara seemed to consider all that her maid, her confident, had told her.

"So you find him trustworthy, this Hercules?" Megara then asked her.

"Why yes, if any man could be called that, I would think it should be him," Andromeda replied her, finishing up with her hair.

"You need me with anything else, your Highness?" Andromeda then made sure, but Megara shook her head.

"No, you have done more than enough. Goodnight, Andromeda and thank you," she shot a kind smile at her maid.

"Of course, your Highness. Have a goodnight," Andromeda curtsied and left Megara, who was still seated in front of her mirror, looking pensive.

* * *

Few weeks had passed since their last visit to the royal palace and now king Creon had called for Hercules' aid once again, even if he still had nothing to report back at him. As they were flying over to the palace, Phil tried his best to prep his student for the meeting. Emphasis on the word TRIED as it seemed that the kid hadn't heard a word he had told him for the last few minutes.

Phil sighed. Even though Hercules was often caught up in his own world, he had been exceptionally absent-minded lately.

"Kid? Have you heard even a word of what I said?" Phil tried, but suddenly Hercules blurted out: "Did you know that king Creon wants to marry his daughter to man more than twice her age?"

Phil sighed. He had found his pupil with this young woman (lovely though she was), but he hadn't really thought that this could really still be about her.

"So? He's the king, he can do what he wants," Phil replied, but instantly regret hit him as he saw the kid's face.

"How can you say that! She hasn't even met him, it's not right!" Hercules replied angrily.

"Kid, this is about politics, it not our place to meddle with them," Phil replied more gently than before.

"Just try to get along with him, okay? He's the king, after all," Phil tried to reason with his petulant-looking student once again.

"Okay, I try," Hercules replied begrudgingly.

King Creon truly seemed worried for the safety of his city-state. It turned out that the king had wanted his help with training his special military unit, who would patrol more frequently on the streets of Thebes.

At first Hercules thought that it was strange for the king to ask his help in such matter (it really wasn't something he really knew anything about), but then again, that would give him a reason to come to the royal palace again. And for whatever reason, Hercules really wanted a reason to visit the royal palace.

As the king and Phil had a heated conversation on how much such a training should be paid for (Hercules really didn't care, he had more money than he needed anyway), he quietly decided to sneak away, passing to the gardens.

And after wandering for a moment, he came across what he had more or less actively been looking for: the princess, Megara. She had a scroll in her hand, sitting on a marble bench, concentrating on whatever she was reading. She was even lovelier than he had remembered.

As she lifted her gaze, she didn't seem surprised at all seeing him there.

Suddenly Hercules felt that he's ability to speak (or think) had left him and all he could muster out was a simple: "Hi."

"Hi yourself," she replied, placing her scroll on the bench as she got up.

"Walk with me?" She simply asked with a small smile.

"Sure," he replied, returning her smile. He found himself more than relieved to discover that she still welcomed his presence: somehow he had the feeling that the princess was a person who usually guarded her privacy and personal space keenly.

The sun was already high on the sky as Apollo guided his wagon on its journey through the sky. The heat wasn't as bad as it was outside the palace, in the streets of Thebes: the garden and its greenery provided some welcomed shade. The garden was truly beautiful, filled with plants and vegetation Hercules had never seen before.

"It's beautiful in here," he remarked for the princess.

"Yes, it's the only place I have some sense of freedom," the princess replied, smiling sadly.

"What do you mean?" Hercules frowned, considering her words.

"Well, it's not like I can leave this place, is it? A cage is always a cage, even if it is made of gold," she than replied. For a moment, Hercules thought of her words. She felt trapped, and why wouldn't she? She couldn't decide anything for herself, not even the man she would marry. Heck, she couldn't even leave this place!

"That's really horrible, not being able to go where you want," Hercules wondered aloud.

"Yes, well it's all about being a royal. People admire you and think they want to be you, but really, they wouldn't. Not being able to decide anything for yourself really sucks. Like big time. My father would have my head for speaking like this, for speaking like a peasant, he already thinks I spend too much time with our servants" the princess momentarily grinned at him. He smiled back at her and once again he found himself lost in her beauty.

"So what did you say about my father's offer?" she suddenly changed the topic.

"You know about that?" Hercules was taken by surprise.

"Who do you think gave him the idea in the first place?" the princess then quipped back, giving him a sideways glance.

"It was your idea?" Hercules was even more surprised than before.

"Yes, well, I take you as a person who really wants to help the people more than anything else. So I was thinking if there were more trained soldiers patrolling on the streets regularly, you wouldn't have to take care of the every little thing, you know? You could concentrate your focus on bigger threats," the princess than elaborated her idea. Hercules was once again taken aback. She was as smart as she was beautiful.

"That's brilliant! How did you sell your idea to the king?"

"Oh, I didn't. I told him it was your idea, that you came up with it and that was what we discussed here in the gardens," the princess gave him a devious smile.

"Amazing. That's so smart. You're really smart," Hercules looked at her with awe.

"Thanks. It's nice to get compliments for my wits, usually people compliment me solely for my looks as if I was some pretty statue to be looked at," she smiled back at him and for the first time, he saw her smile genuinely. Her smile was so radiant that the sun itself paled in the comparison.

"But you are really smart, your Highness," Hercules replied her.

"Meg. Just call me Meg, please?" the princess, Meg, pleaded him.

"Alright, Meg," Hercules did like how that name rolled off of his tongue.

"See? That wasn't so hard," the princess teased him.

"So, is it true what they say? That you're the son of Zeus himself?" Meg suddenly changed the topic, picking up a flower. Hercules was more than little startled by the sudden change in topic.

"Umm, yeah. It is. I was stolen as a child and turned into a mortal," Hercules nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he told the mythical tale of his childhood. Telling that tale never seized to feel awkward to him.

"Wow, that is one heck of a story. Works like a charm as a conversation icebreaker?" Meg mused with awe.

"Yeah, well, people don't believe it most of the time," Hercules confessed with a laugh.

"Well, their loss. I heard a rumor that you want to become a God once again?" Meg then asked in more serious manner.

"I do. But mostly just because I want rejoin my family. Since my early childhood, I've always felt that I'm in a wrong place," Hercules then confessed.

"I certainly know how that feels. It's not like enjoy living in the palace, even if I was born here," Meg sighed.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could help you," Hercules frowned, sensing her inner conflict.

"But I'm happy I met you here in the palace," he confessed.

"I'm happy you have been here too, if that counts. You seem like a genuinely good person and you have helped my people a great deal. I hope you succeed in finding your place," Meg offered him a timid smile.

Hercules smiled back at her, thankful for her kind words. As he was about to reply something back at her, a servant came up, requiring the princess to come meet her father at once.

As she left, her eyes lingering on him for a moment before following the servant. She smiled timidly at him and he smiled back.

For a moment, he was left standing there, pondering their conversation, before he left to find Phil.

Little did he know, that someone had been witnessing his exchange with the princess.

-A/N: I'm on a roll today. Yay! So I think that if Meg would have to live in the royal palace, she would probably sneak around the servants' quarters to learn about the life outside the palace. She would also have much more opinions about things connected to politics than the female royalty in ancient Greece were usually allowed to have. Also in this arc, there's no 'ex-boyfriend' episode what-so-ever: this means that Meg is kind of reserved, but not quite as bitter and guarded as she was in the original movie. Does that make any sense? Anyway, thank you for reading, reviewing or showing your support in anyway!


	3. I Will Try To Fix You

**Third Chapter: I Will Try To Fix You**

_"When you try your best but you don't succeed _  
_When you get what you want but not what you need _  
_When you feel so tired but you can't sleep _  
_Stuck in reverse_

_When the tears come streaming down your face _  
_'Cause you lose something you can't replace _  
_When you love someone but it goes to waste _  
_What could it be worse? _

_Lights will guide you home _  
_And ignite your bones _  
_And I will try to fix you"_

_\- Coldplay: Fix You_

* * *

Meg was required to meet her father in his private quarters and that was where she headed after talking with Hercules.

Surprisingly, her father was alone and without his advisor, Autolycus. Even though her father argued that he was his most trusted advisor, Meg had never liked nor trusted the man. There was something uncanny in the way his eyes seemed to follow her every step and it made her feel uneasy.

"You asked for me, father?" Meg simply asked. She decided not to push her luck and ask about the whereabouts of the king's advisor.

"Yes. I have been in contact with your future husband, the king of Sparta," the king simply required.

"Oh," Meg simply replied, feeling her heart dropping into her stomach.

"His seer will foretell when will be the most favorable date for your wedding. After we discover the date, we will start the preparations. You should start preparing as well, daughter," king simply offered, not noticing or not caring as unshed tears filled his daughter's eyes.

"But father…" Meg tried to argue, but he stopped her short.

"No buts. You know it is all set. We need this to reinforce our alliance with Sparta," her father replied back.

Meg sighed. Maybe there was nothing she could do for herself, but there was still something she could do for her people.

"Father, there is another issue that has been troubling me," Meg started timidly.

"I hope it's not connected to your impending marriage?" the king rubbed his temples with his fingers, already feeling the headache forming.

"No it's not. It's connected to the safety of our city-state," Meg quickly replied, guiding their conversation to safer matters.

"Continue," her father simply told, curious to see where this was going.

"There has been many monster attacks lately. Too many. Without the aid of Hercules, many lives would have been lost. It seems almost as if our city-state was purposefully targeted," Meg spoke out her suspicions, but much to her disdain, she noticed that the lizard-like advisor of her father had slipped into the room in the middle of her speech. _Great._ This was exactly what she needed.

"That is an absurd accusation!" The man exclaimed loudly.

The king simply rubbed his bearded chin, his mind already working on the problem pointed out by his daugther.

"Besides, the princess, as smart as she is for _a woman_, should not burden herself with such worries with her wedding closing on soon," Autolycus continued as he seemingly smiled at her, but she could hear the condescending tone in his voice. Meg had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the man.

"Autolycus is right, you should not burden yourself with such worries. But I shall look into this matter. You may go now," her father dismissed her and Meg left him alone with Autolycus who circled around his throne like a wolf circling its prey.

She felt a chill running down her spine.

She did not notice how Autolycus' eyes would lingered on her form, his eyes fixed upon her retrieving form.

* * *

It was already night-time and Morpheus had started his work for the night. Most people in the city-state of Thebes were already asleep and even if the occasion was quite late, one lonely figure made his way away from the royal palace of Thebes, making his way to an isolated cave located just beneath the cliffs underneath the palace. The figure crept inside the cave, looking nervously around him.

"Oi, you took your sweet time coming here," A taller figure appeared just behind him, sounding already irritated.

"Forgive me, master. I came as soon as I could!" The man knelt before the figure, a god: the lord of the Dead.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, cut to the chase: is there anything new information concerning my number one enemy, Jerkules?" His flaming hair started burning in red-hot flames as he just thought about that annoying hero-wannabe.

"Ah yes, Hercules has started working for the king, training his soldiers, so he is quite occupied at the moment," The man, Autolycus, king's right hand and advisor, nervously explained to the god, who's patience was thinning out.

"Yes, we went through that the last time. What else?" Hades spat out, starting to lose his nerve.

"Well, it seems like Hercules has got a crush on king's eldest daughter, Megara. I have seen them talking alone and today, he was looking longingly directly at her," Autolycus explained nervously.

"Oh, the daughter you're after, eh? You were ready to sell your soul to me, if I gave you the one thing you wanted: the king's eldest daughter. And now Jerkules is in love with her as well?" Hades leered at the anxious man.

"What he wants doesn't matter! As long as I'll be the one who gets her in the end!" Autolycus replied angrily.

"Yes, yes, we made a deal and I keep my end of the bargain. If you help me bringing the royal house of Thebes down, the whole city-state will fall into chaos and we can crush Hercules at the same time!" Hades was just getting started as the wheels in his head started turning.

"Princess Megara also pointed out to the king that all this monster attacks happening at Thebes seem to be happening too conveniently at the same time. Now the king suspects something as well," Autolycus carried on, already wincing as he knew his master well enough to anticipate his reaction.

"WHAT! That little, UGH!" Hades' hair flamed out in his red-hot anger and instinctively Autolycus pulled away from him.

"Alright, alright, we're cool, we're cool," Hades muttered to himself as he composed himself.

"So seems like this little princess is one smart cookie. Maybe we could use _her_…" Hades knitted his fingers together, with a devious smile playing on his lips. He would use _the little princess_ in his plot, even against her will or even her knowledge.

_Now this should be fun._

* * *

Days and few weeks passed as Hercules tried his best to divide his time between his heroic duties in Thebes and training the would-be city-troopers. Even as he occasionally saw the eldest daughter of Creon, those moments were only fleeting and they never had much time for any other conversations then exchanging pleasantries in front of other people. Hercules wasn't even sure why he wished to see her so much: each day without seeing her seemed like torment and the days he saw her, even if for a moment, meant everything for him.

One day after his training session with the soldiers, king Creon had sent a servant to fetch Hercules to come and meet him. Hercules obediently followed the servant to the throne room, where the king was seated on his throne. Unfortunately for him, there was none of his daughters to be found even as he stole a glance around the room: he only met the piercing eyes of king Creon's advisor, Autolycus he recalled was his name. There was something unsettling in that man, something he did not like about him: the look in his eyes was almost sardonic, which Hercules found strange.

Hercules was shaken out his reverie as the servant who he had followed, cleared his throat and Hercules realized he was supposed to kneel before the king. The young hero did just that, lowering his gaze away from the king's eldest daughter.

"You may rise, young hero," king Creon told him and Hercules did as he was told anxiously. "So, how had the training with my soldiers started out?"

"Very well, Your Highness. Even though I think it will take at least several more weeks to complete the training. We are only getting started with it. Is that what you wished to talk about with me, your Highness?" Hercules asked, still glancing momentarily to the king's right side. For the up-coming weeks he had a reason to come here, a reason to see her, even if it was occasional.

"That is one of the reasons, yes. But there is another reason: I have heard some rumors," the king replied on a grave voice and Hercules swallowed anxiously. He was not talking about him and his daughter, right? They had been just talking to each other, admittedly without a chaperone, that much was true.

"Wh-what kind of rumors, your Highness?" Hercules had hard time at finding his voice as he felt his nerves getting the better of him.

"There have been more and more attacks of monsters in Thebes recently. One could almost think that it's intentional, would you?" The king pondered aloud and Hercules almost had an urge to sigh aloud from relief.

"Intentional, you say? I haven't thought about it that way. But there have been quite a lot happening lately," Hercules thought about it: there had been Hydra, the Nemean lion, a wild boar, the Medusa to name a few. No, all this monsters attacking all at once did not seem natural. Would someone really arrange all this? Who would do this and why?

"I wanted to ask you to keep an eye on things, to see if you can get into the bottom of things. If there is someone responsible for all of this, I would like to know. This is about the safety of my city-state, after all. Would you do that for me?" The king had gotten up and made his way to Hercules. He placed his hand on Hercules' shoulder to show his confidence on young hero.

"Of course I will, Your Highness," Hercules told him, bowing his head in respect.

"Good! If you find anything out, please report back at me," the king told him absent-mindedly, already making his way back to his throne.

"I will do that, Your Highness," Hercules told him, realizing that the meeting was coming to an end.

"Very well. You may go now," the king gestured towards the door, looking almost bored that they were still there.

Hercules resisted the urge to sigh as he exited the palace: so much for seeing her. He decided to take a short-cut through the palace gardens and go to the stables to fetch Pegasus and head back home: during these last few weeks, he had been getting well-acquainted with the surroundings of Cadmea.

As he was passing by the fountain where he had met Meg during his first visit to the palace, he noticed a familiar figure seated there once again. He could not believe his luck; part of him also wondered if he had unconsciously picked that exact route in case he would find her here? Nevertheless, he was happy to see her.

She, however, did not seem too happy, lost in her thought, a sad look in her eyes.

"Hi," Hercules simply greeted her, once again losing his ability to speak because of her beauty.

"Oh Gods, you startled me!" Meg jolted back, surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Hercules apologized as he sat next to her.

"Who did you think I was?" He then asked, curious about her reaction.

"Oh, I was afraid you were Autolycus. That creep seems to follow me everywhere nowadays," Meg replied with a annoyed sigh and a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, I see. He does seem kind of a sketchy type. Wonder how he ended up being king's advisor?" Hercules wondered aloud.

" My father claims that Autolycus is the only person worthy of his trust. He appeared at our palace sometime after… After my mother died," Meg quietly finished, obviously struggling to find words.

"I'm sorry to hear that, if it's a hard topic to talk about, you don't have to explain," Hercules gently told her.

"I haven't really talked about this with anybody. But I want to tell you: my three brothers died when I was just a child. My mother, Eurydice, could not handle it and she killed herself. That is when everything changed, at least my father changed: he became distant and bitter, crippled by his own sorrow. He's been different ever since: sometimes I wonder if the part of my father that was able to feel things died along with my brothers and my mother. My grandmother Harmonia was there, but she had her hands full with my father. I was left to care for my two sisters and I was just a child myself," Meg whispered as tears threatened to fill her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Meg, You shouldn't have gone through that, none of your family should," Hercules replied as he tenderly with his thumb caught a lonely tear trekking down her cheek.

He had lost the opportunity to live with his birth-parents: but they still existed and maybe eventually some day, he would be reunited with them. But how did she feel, after losing her mother and her brothers at such a young age, only to be neglected by a distant father? He could even begin to imagine it.

"I was raised by my mortal parents and I cannot even visit my real parents as a half-mortal. But experience something such as you have: I cannot even imagine it," He softly replied to her.

"I used to be so lonely when I grew up. I had my sisters and my grandmother, but I couldn't show them how much all those things that had happened affected me. They were struggling themselves, we all were," she explained, the sad and distant look in her eyes.

"I use to be lonely too when I grew up: I felt that I was different, too different, compared to all the other children. Growing up wasn't easy for me either," Hercules revealed to her some of his most agonizing moments of his adolescence and she keenly listened. Somehow even the most painful moments he had bottled up inside of him and never talked about with anyone were easy to expose when she was listening.

At one point, he noticed it was already getting dark and he had no idea how long they (he) had been talking.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't burden you with all of these

"No, don't be sorry: it's never easy to talk about these kind of things. Besides, it's comforting to know that even the son of Zeus has experienced some sort of childhood traumas," Meg playfully jabbed and Hercules laughed back.

"Ha, I wonder if anyone can survive teenage years without getting those. Thanks Meg, I really enjoyed talking to you," he honestly told her, looking into her eyes.

"You don't have to thank me, it's good to have someone to talk to," Meg replied, a smile still playing on her lips.

He returned her smile, almost getting lost in her eyes.

"Well, I guess you should be going before your trainer files 'a missing hero' report," Meg quipped back and Hercules awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"You're right, Phil's probably already looking for me all around Thebes. I hope I'll see you soon again, _Meg,_" Hercules enjoyed how her name rolled of his tongue.

"So do I," Meg simply told him, giving him a small smile as he waved his hand and took his course towards the stables with a goofy smile still playing on his lips.

Meg was left there sitting alone as she suddenly heard rustling from the fauna near her. She relaxed as she noticed her grandmother Harmonia gracefully approaching her.

"Grandmother…" she simply breathed out, relieved to find out she was none of her father's lackeys.

"Megara, dear, you're playing a dangerous game," her grandmother frowned at her as she sat next to her, to the same exact spot where Hercules had been seated only moments ago.

"I- I don't know what you mean," Meg told her, feeling uneasy because of the conversation.

"I saw you talking with that young hero. He seems like a nice young man, but you are promised to marry someone else, Megara," Harmonia took Meg's hand between her own hands.

"We were just talking," Meg replied with a frustrated sigh.

"I know you were, but if you're father would find out, I don't believe he would see agree with you. Do not worry: I won't tell him. Just be careful Meg, these kinds of situations are not inclined to end well," Harmonia warned her before getting back to her feet.

"Come now dear, we should join you father and your sisters for the meal," Harmonia told her and Meg got to her feet, heading back to palace with her grandmother.

Her grandmother's words, however, had left an uneasy feeling to her chest.

* * *

A/N: Nope, I'm still here: sorry for the longer break, I wasn't happy with the chapter and needed to fix some kinks. So I ended up re-writing the most of this chapter and submitting it at one go: hopefully the result seems okay to you.

So Hades has teamed up with the king's advisor: how do we feel about that? I need to confess that I was quite inspired by Wormstongue (the advisor of king Theoden) in _Lord of the Rings_ while writing the characterization for Autolycus. I'm not gonna apologize for that because I'm a die-hard Tolkien/Lotr-fan, ha!

And I just wanted to point out that in this fic, Herc is still battling all those monsters sent out by Hades etc., but I'm gonna rewrite some of the stuff happening in the original movie. Some of the plot-line I already know, some of it is still a mystery: we just have to see where this goes.

And yes, I'm gonna soon post another chapter to my other fic 'All This And Olympus Too', but there are also some kinks I need to fix: hopefully the next chapter will be up some time during this week. Take care and thanks for reading! Much love!


	4. While the Walls Are Closing In

**While the Walls Are Closing In**

"_Stop! You're cold against the skin  
You take me in your arms when walls are closing in,  
And I run, I run, I run, awakening my heart  
But you overwhelm my lungs and it's tearing me apart_

_You and I will not be shaken  
By the winter sound  
But my voice is suffocating  
In the winter sound."_

_Winter Sound_ by Of Monsters and Men

* * *

That day, Hercules was resting at the courtyard after an especially tiring training session with the future city-troopers. Dividing his time between his heroic duties and training the troopers was finally starting to take its toll on the demigod. More than that, he had done everything in his power to become a "true hero" and yet, nothing. The gates of mount Olympus had still stayed closed to him. Obviously he wasn't still ready to become a God. What more was expected of him? What more could he even do? He sighed as he leaned his back against the stonewalls of the palace.

"Having a hard time with our soldiers?" a familiar voice, a _female_ voice, asked him.

He opened his eyes and spotted her, Meg, standing before him. She had a mischievous smile on her face and she had placed her hands on her hips. Hercules all but jump to his feet, taken by surprise to see her there. How had he not heard her coming, with all his training and what not?

"Your Highness-, I mean, Meg," he started again, not still sure what he should call her.

"Meg will do just fine. Sorry, I must have surprised you?" she then asked and the hero scratched his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah, kind of. I didn't hear you. But I'm really happy to see you, in any case. Thanks for the last time, I really enjoyed talking to you. It just… So easy to talk to you," he then told he, a genuine smile on his face.

"Oh, it was nothing," Meg felt blush creeping up her neck. She had been listening to all kinds of compliments and sweet words her whole life, so why would his words, _his presence_, effect her this way?

After a moment of silence, Meg cleared her throat and asked again: "So, how is the training going?"

"Well, I think it's going well, but it takes time. Also, I have never done anything like this, so I have quite a lot to figure out," Hercules told her.

"Is something else wrong? You seem distracted," Meg observed.

"Well, I set out to become a true hero in order to become a God and earn my place on Olympus. I feel that I have done everything in my power and yet, here I am," Hercules confessed with a sigh.

"Maybe the Gods are waiting for you to finish your current little project here in our palace?" Meg driely pointed out and Hercules let out a small laugh.

"No, put seriously: I'm sorry, that must be hard after all your hard work," Meg frowned as she thought of his problem.

"Yeah it kinda is. I'm still not sure what to do. I'm sorry, it seems that lately I have been only complaining of my problems" Hercules apologized: he didn't want to burden her with his worries.

"You've got lot on your plate. This gig at training our soldiers is certainly not helping," Meg felt sorry for the weary-looking young hero.

"No don't be: I'm sure there's a way to figure this out," Hercules decided to rely on his trademark optimism.

"I'm sure if anybody can work it out, it would be you," Meg than told him honestly and for a moment they just looked at each other's eyes, losing the track of time.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me," Hercules then mustered out, still smiling kindly at her.

"I still worry that the training is taking too much of your time," Meg made sure, feeling empathetic for his weary looks.

"You're kind worrying 'bout me. But well, my trainer Phil isn't exactly happy at the moment," Hercules chuckled back, awkwardly knitting his fingers together.

"I got the impression that he isn't really the happy-go-lucky type," Meg responded.

"Naw, Phil's not that bad, he's just… Really dedicated," Hercules told her, moving closer to her.

"Well I'm sorry if my idea put you into a tight spot," Meg's fingers were knitting together nervously as well. It seemed as they shared the same nervous habit.

"Don't be. I'm not," Hercules replied, pulling her hand into his. Her hand felt so small, so delicate between his bigger ones. He had the strangest urge to hold her, to protect her: to chase the constant sadness in her eyes away. Meg seemed a bit anxious by his closeness, it seemed like she was not used to having someone close to her.

"I'm sorry, if I make you feel uneasy I can move away-" Hercules begun to apologize to her, but she furiously shook her head.

"No, don't. I mean you don't have to. I just- I just don't know how to handle something like this: being close to someone, that is," Meg struggled to explain, but Hercules stopped her short.

"I know how that feels. You don't have to explain it to me," he really did know how that felt.

Meg looked back at him, her eyes brimming with tears. She was so beautiful, more beautiful than anything he had seen. Without even noticing, the two of the were moving even closer to each other, they were so close that their lips could almost touch.

'_How would it feel to kiss her, to taste her lips?'_ Hercules pondered in his head, his heart thrumming so loudly he could hear it in his ears. They were only an inch away when they heard steps: luckily this time, the steps passed them by. But the moment was gone and both of them hesitantly pulled away.

"I'm sorry…" Hercules apologized, almost purely out of habit: he was so used to apologize for his clumsiness and all the havoc it had cost during the span of his years as a mortal.

"What for?" Meg smiled a little uncertainly.

"I- I dunno, I guess I got sort of carried away," Hercules let out a nervous laugh as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh. Don't worry about it," Meg gave him a timid smile.

"As long as anybody didn't see us as, that is," Meg sighed.

"I take that as your father won't change his mind concerning your marriage?" Hercules gave her an emphatetic look.

"I didn't really expect him to. I doubt that even the Gods themselves couldn't make him change his mind, so why would my opinion on this subject matter?" Meg asked him, bitterness lacing her words.

"Your opinion matters, at least it matters for me," Hercules told her seriously.

"You're sweet, you really are," Meg gave him another warm smile, even though her eyes stayed sad.

"But I'm a princess so my opinion doesn't matter. We're just pawns men use in their games to marry us off, to strengthen their alliances. Most likely the historians won't even remember my name, they won't record it down to their scrolls: it only matters who's daughter or sister I am, who I marry and who I may give birth to. Me, as a person? I don't matter. And that is that," Meg continued looking somewhere faraway. Hercules felt bad: he was a hero, he should be able to help people in need. He should be able to help _her._

"But you have matters enough as it is in your own hands. I should let you go back to the city, I'm sure you have lot of other responsibilities other than chatting with me," Meg carried on.

'_Yes, but none on them delight me as much as talking with you does. How I wish I could help you,' _Hercules thought, but could not find his voice to speak out his thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess I should get going," instead, he lamely agreed with her.

Meg bid farewell to the young hero and she did not miss out how his eyes as well seemed to linger on her retrieving form.

When Meg was gone, Hercules closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. What was wrong with him? He had other duties, he needed to focus on becoming a God once again and re-join his family on mount Olympus. He could not entertain these childish fantasies about _her_: even if she was the most incredible, the most beautiful and the most intelligent person he had ever encountered. And while she was all those things, she was also to be married to another man.

Once again, there had been a third wheel secretly witnessing their encounter.

* * *

The next evening, Meg was seated with her sisters in the _gynaikion_, the women's quarters, practicing the one single thing she hated the most: needlework. She cursed inwardly as her hands could not cooperate with the piece of fabric she was working at the moment.

Her sister Henioche, two years young than she was, gave a small laugh and put her own work away.

"Here, let me help you," she offered, reaching for Meg's work.

"Thanks," Meg muttered as she watched her sister work her magic.

"You're really bad in that," Pyrrha, youngest of the three sisters, remarked, dividing momentarily her concentration between her scroll and her oldest sister.

"Thanks, didn't know that," Meg replied back at her sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

"Hey, not my fault that you suck," Pyrrha quipped back.

"Watch your language, Pyrrha! Meg, you should really pay more attention for chores like these: you are soon to become a wedded wife and you need to know these kind of skills," Henioche reprimanded her.

"Oh, do not remind me," Meg grimaced.

"Don't make that face! Having your own household, husband and servants and all that to take care of is a great blessing!" Henioche told her sternly. Sometimes Meg had hard time with grasping the fact that Henioche was actually younger than she was: the way she acted made her seem much more mature.

While Meg was eighteen, Henioche was sixteen and Pyrrha only fourteen. While Pyrrha had more rebellious and free-spirited nature, Henioche was already eager to get married and have her own household: that was the reason why she was so anxiously expecting her older sister to get married. From her perspective, after Meg was married, it would be finally her turn: unlike Meg, she could not wait for it to happen.

"Meg will make an splendid wife: she cannot do needlework even if her life would depend on it. And not only that, simply mentioning her future husband is enough to sent her running for the hills," Pyrrha once again responded. Even if her words were teasing, Meg knew there was truth in them.

Momentarily she recollected the previous night: after talking with Hercules, she had visited a temple and prayed for the goddess Artemis for sparing her from marrying the Spartan king Aedes. Her _proaulia_, the time between betrothal and marriage, was reaching its end on her part, even if she wasn't ready for it yet. The mere thought of the old king's hands running on her body made her shiver as frustrated tears had filled her eyes.

She had been kneeling on the stony temple floor until her knees were bruised, begging for the goddess Artemis, the virgin Goddess and protector of unmarried women, to guide her. There had been no answer by the goddess. On the other hand, Meg wasn't even suprised: when ever had the Gods listened to the prayers made by her family members? It was obvious to her that the Gods had deserted her family a long time ago.

Meg was brought back to the present moment as her youngest sister started talking again.

"Maybe there's a reason why she isn't eager to marry king Aedes? Maybe the reason for that might be a certain hero, visiting our palace quite often these days?" Pyrrha stretched as she slowly carried on talking, looking as smug as a cat who got the cream. Meg felt her face paling: how could she know? If she knew, who else would know?

"Pyrrha, stop it!" Henioche seemed uncomfortable as well.

"How… How do you know?" Meg mustered out.

"People talk. Well, when I say people, I mean servants," Pyrrha grinned back at her smugly.

"Pyrrha, stop that: it's not funny," Henioche tried to hush her younger sister and Pyrrha sighed.

"Alright, alright! Geez, I was just teasing her…" Pyrrha muttered as she picked her scroll back up, not realizing the turmoil her talk had just caused.

"Stop talking nonsense, Pyrrha and concentrate on your reading lessons! Meg, you must practice some more," Henioche handed Meg's work back to her after doing her best to salvage it from damage done by Meg and retreated back to her own work.

Her mind was still working over-time over what Pyrrha had just told her, but Meg still tried to turn her focus back into the task in her hand (quite literally). Then the king's servant came asking for her: this time, the timing could not be any more convenient.

Meg sighed inwardly: even if her father would most likely talk about her up-coming marriage, she could not stand her sisters' rambling any longer and even more so, these torture methods deemed as 'women's work' were driving her crazy. So yes, to meet her father she would go. She could only hope that all these talk concerning Hercules and her had not yet reached her father's (or his advisor's) ears.

As Meg entered her father's private quarters, she suddenly understood that this wasn't just a pleasantry visit: her father had a serious matter he wanted to discuss with her. She saw her father standing by the window, looking thoughtful. As usually, Autolycus stood beside the king like his shadow. Meg walked closer, already anticipating whatever her father had to say.

"Father, you wanted to see me?" Meg then asked timidly.

"Yes, indeed I did," he turned to face her and Meg's stomach dropped. She could tell by his face that whatever he was going to say wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Megara, I have been informed that you have been seen speaking with this Hercules for several times now, sometimes even alone, without a chaperon," her father then told her and Meg cursed inwardly.

"By whom, by Autolycus?" Meg sneered, her eyes momentarily fixing upon the clammy, waxy face of king's advisor.

"By several people, by whom exactly, it matters not," the king replied rigidly.

"Father, we have only discussed the training of the soldiers…" Meg begun, but her father cut her short.

"I don't care what you have discussed! The training of city-troopers is none of your concern, you are a woman and a princess after all. I will not allow this folly continue any longer, you are forbidden to see this young man anymore. And you will do as you're told: you will marry king Aedes, like it or not. Understood?" her father told her strictly, looking at her sternly. Meg swallowed all the words rising to her mouth: they would do no good when her father was in one of his moods. She had learned that lesson many years ago.

"Yes," Meg quietly replied.

"Yes what?" her father asked, obviously starting to get annoyed with his daughter.

"Yes, your Highness," Meg bowed her head, hiding her face.

"Good, I'm glad we got this sorted out. You may go now, Megara," Creon told her as he turned his back at her.

As Meg walked out, she felt tears burning in her eyes. In her mind, she realized that she hardly knew this hero, son of Zeus, _Hercules_, but still not being able to see him bothered her much more than she would have cared to admit.

* * *

A/N: My work has been kicking my butt lately (oh the joys of adulthood), but I wanted to offer you lovely peeps a new chapter. I hope that Meg's sisters, especially Pyrrha, didn't seem too annoying: I picture her as a bit moody teenager, who sometimes bickers with her siblings (as do we all while growing up). So she didn't mean anything bad, she just didn't really think of the consequences.

Also shout-outs to the lovely people, who reviewed: thank you so much! I never actually really thought about posting this story online, before I actually did it. It feels kinda strange, now that I think about it.


	5. Secret Messages, Encounters and Kisses

**Secret Messages, Encounters and Kisses**

"_And he took her in his arms_

_and kissed her under the sunlit sky,_

_and he cared not that they stood high_

_upon the walls in the sight of many."_

― J.R.R. Tolkien

* * *

King Creon paced back and forth in his private quarters. His patience with his stubborn daughter was starting to run short. He had just ended a conversation with her, telling her once again that she was not allowed to associate herself with this _Hercules_. Yet the defiant look in her eyes had told him enough: he was certain that she would not follow his direct orders. King Creon paused his pacing and sighed, closing his eyes

Even if out of his three daughters, Megara looked most like his passed spouse, their personalities differed prominently. His late wife, Eurydiche, had been obedient and kind, her fragile spirit had not taken well with the loss of their sons, which is most likely why she had decided to take her own life. Megara, beneath all her strong will and spirit, had a kind heart just like her mother, but her spirit could not be broken as easily as hers.

In a way, he admired his daughter for her strong will and her sense of justice. But they were royals: they did not have the luxury of choosing to do what they saw right for themselves. They had to do what was requested of them in order to maintain their royal house and status: that included making some hard and even ugly choices from time to time. And the king knew what he had to do.

He called for a servant and as the man arrived, he announced:

"Send my quickest messenger to king Aedes. Pass the word for him, that we should not wait any longer: that no matter what his seer says, we shall have his and my daughter's wedding as soon as he arrives to Thebes. And as soon as he receives my message, he should make haste and start his journey to Thebes," king Creon concluded.

"Shall I wait for the morning, your Highness?" the servant inquired.

"Now, do it right away. We need to reach king Aedes as soon as possible. We cannot wait any longer,"

The servant opened his mouth, almost as if to question his instructions, but then he simply closed his mouth and nodded. "As you wish, your Highness," the servant bowed and scurried to find the messenger to hand the task for him.

Deep in his thoughts, king Creon turned to study the palace's garden outside his window. He knew his daughter would hardly be happy when she heard about his actions. But he was doing this for her own good: she could not keep pursuing something that could not simply be. She would simply hurt herself by doing so. Besides, marriages born from romantic relations were hardly the most working and productive ones: he himself knew that from first-hand experience. He closed his eyes and sighed once again.

_'I'm sorry Megara, but I'm doing this for your own good and for the good of our people,'_ he thought.

* * *

At the same time, Autolycus had made his way to the cave which worked as his meeting place with Hades.

"O' Lord of the Dead, I do summon thee," Autolycus loudly called as he fond no trace of the dark deity.

"Yeah, yeah, no need to burst my ears with your wailing. Sheesh, you could even wake the dead with that voice of yours and hey, believe me: I'm the expert," Hades casually pointed out as he appeared from a thick cloud of smoke.

"Oh, forgive my master. It's just that the situation between the king and princess Megara is going as you wished," Autolycus quickly explained.

"Oh? Care to elaborate?" Hades knitted his fingers together in an excited manner.

"Well, the king has forbidden his daughter of seeing this Hercules and yet she defies his orders by doing so. The relationship between the king and his eldest daughter has been strained to say the least for years, but now the're really trekking on a thin ice," Autolycus recounted.

"Hmmph. That's good. Really good. When the trust is gone between family members, there is no going back. This turn of events might come out handy: that beefcake _Jerkules_ has turned out be much bigger nuisance than I first thought," Hades rubbed his pointy chin thoughtfully.

"Yes, I did hear he defeated all those monsters sent by you," Autolycus nodded and Hades gave him a hard look.

"Yeah. Thanks for reminding me of my latest failures, I could really use that," Hades sneered back at him with a fake smile.

"Forgive me, my master, I-," Autolycus started his grovelling once again, but Hades cut him short.

"Yeah, well no need for that. Just keep an eye on the things at the palace and keep me updated, 'kay?" He had better things to do than listening to the endless apologies made by this pathetic man (like re-arranging the Cosmos). _'What was this guy, a man or a worm?'_ The thought quicly passed Hades' mind.

"Will do so, sire," Autolycus was eager to bow and Hades disappeared with a poof, while rolling his eyes at Autolycus' exaggarated gesture. _'What a doofus.'_

* * *

For the following few days, Hercules hardly saw any trace of Meg. He had a feeling that it was not Meg's choice, but instead the king himself was behind it. Sometimes when he was training the soldiers, he would notice from his peripheral vision that the king was monitoring the training session. More than that, he noticed how the king was obviously scrutinizing him when he thought Hercules wouldn't notice.

He did remember that the king was a stubborn man who had decided to marry his daughter to a trusted ally, but still, he had hoped that the king would change his mind. He hoped that the king would let Meg herself decide what she wanted to with her life.

Hercules had finished one more day of training and he was entering the stables to fetch Pegasus as someone rushed inside after him as well. _Meg._

"Hi," she breathed out breathlessly, as she had obviously been in a hurry.

"Hi yourself, I thought I wouldn't see you," Hercules was positively surprised to see her there.

"Well, Thalos, one of our guards, told me that you came here. He's a good person, I trust him," Meg then told him, coming closer to him.

"Well, I'm glad to meet you, in any case. I guess your father told you not meet me anymore?" A sad smile played on Hercules' lips.

"Yes, that's what _he_ told me. But I think it's safe to say that I'm quite bad at following his orders," Meg smiled cheekily.

"I guess we should keep this meeting as a secret?" She continued on.

"I can live with that, as long as I get to see you. I really missed you," Hercules blurted out and felt his cheeks burning. He wanted to bite his own tongue. _Why did he say that, maybe she now thought that he was a complete idiot?_

Meg felt her cheeks getting warmer as she quietly told him: "I missed you as well."

A timid smile came to her face as she studied him under her lashes. Hercules felt himself returning the smile and moving even closer to her. He took her hand to his own, studying her delicate one.

"Why did you come to see me, even against your father's wishes? I mean, I'm thrilled that you're here, but there might be some consequences if he finds out," Hercules asked her, curious to hear her reasons.

"I don't want to but you into an awkward position..." Meg begun, but Hercules furiously shook his head.

"No, I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about you," he told her quietly, looking into her eyes.

"Oh. That's... Sweet, I guess. People are mostly worried about how I behave and about my future, but not really of my well-being. I feel so alone in here: I might be surrounded by people, but it all feels like we're all playing parts in some elaborate play written by Euripides. It all feels so_ fake._ But you seem… _Different_," Meg tried to explain to him. '_Why did I say that?'_

"I understand how that feels. I might be known all over Greece, but everybody is interested in me as a hero, not as a person," Hercules then explained her, opening up to her about things he had never told anybody before.

"People see only what they want to see," Meg then sighed sadly, turning away from him.

"You're not like that," Hercules then told her, following her steps.

"How do you know what I'm like?" Meg turned to face him.

"All I know is that you're the most amazing person with weak ankles that I have ever met," Hercules took her hands to his own ones, remembering the first time he had met her, how she had fallen down to his arms and how perfect she had felt there. He struggled to put in words what she meant to him. Yes, what did she mean to him? He hardly knew her, but still, she mattered more then he could ever explain to her.

Meg's eyes widened and a genuine smile splayed across her face as she heard what he thought about her. She wanted to stay at this very moment for as long as possible, but at the same time, she wanted to run away. This, whatever _this _was, was getting more serious than she had imagined.

Meg chuckled as she tried to turn away, but only met the wall. _Damn._

"With you, I don't feel so alone," Hercules then told her and she wanted to tell him that she felt the same.

Instead she tried to reason with him: "I don't know what this is, but maybe we should stop it before one of us gets hurt…"

Hercules was moving towards her lips as if in a trance and instead of following her rational mind, she returned the gesture. She closed her eyes, anticipating the moment when their lips would meet.

And when it happened, there where no words to describe it. What she felt was simply a bliss. She sighed against his mouth, pulling him closer with her hands. He snaked his arms around her, lifting her into air without even noticing it. He had never experienced anything like this all his life. For a moment that felt like a blink and eternity all at once their kiss continued. As the lack of air in their lungs forced them to pull away, they were both breathless.

"Wow," Hercules simply breathed out.

"Yeah," Meg replied, her head still reeling from their kiss. Then she noticed that she was still tangling awkwardly in the air, still captured in his arms.

"Erm, would you mind…?" Meg then gestured towards the ground.

"Oh! I'm really sorry!" Hercules chuckled nervously, gently lowering her down.

"Don't be. I'm not," Meg then told him, placing her hand on his bicep.

"I'm not either," he replied her, smiling warmly at her.

Suddenly Meg snapped back to reality. How long had she been there? Had someone already noticed that she was missing?

"I-, I need to go," Meg moved nervously towards the door. She had stayed there already for way too long, she needed to head back as quickly as possible.

"Will I see you again soon?" Hercules pulled her gently back from her wrist.

"I'll try my best. Yes, yes you will," she smiled at him, tiptoeing on her feet and placing a quick kiss on his cheek before turning away and gathering her skirt in her hands as she started to run towards the palace.

Hercules traced his lips with his fingers, still in awe with what had happened.

He had kissed her and she had kissed him back. He felt happy, happier than he had ever felt. He hardly paid any attention what was happening around him as he returned with Pegasus to his villa, his head was still reeling from all that had happened.

* * *

A/N: So the kiss finally did happen! How do we feel about that? I wanted to kind of re-write the garden scene from the original movie in a less romantic and more realistic circumstances (because most important discussions in real life do not happen in those ideal settings). I don't know, I kinda like romantic things that happen in the more everyday-like settings.

Shout-out to my reviewers: Cabria: Ooh, sorry I forgot to respond to your review earlier on! But I do like your idea, that would be a fun turn to this story (reminds me of Aladdin taking Jasmine on a magic carpet ride). I do think that Meg's grandmother has good intentions, but like her son, she has a really strong sense of doing her duty, you know?

Nutmeg: Glad to her you like it! In my mind, I actually do think that is what happened in the setting of original Hercules movie. ;)


	6. For Hope I'd Give My Everything

**For Hope I'd Give My Everything**

_"Oh how I wish_

_For soothing rain_

_All I wish is to dream again_

_My loving heart_

_Lost in the dark_

_For hope I'd give my everything."_

\- _Nemo_ by Nightwish

* * *

When Meg turned and started to trace her steps back to the palace, her happiness over what had just happened with Hercules seemingly dissipated and for some reason, an uneasy feeling settled to the pit of her stomach.

She felt as if something was amiss, as if something bad was about to happen. She felt as if they wouldn't see each other for some time and she didn't like that feeling.

Meg stayed outside, forgetting her hurry and catching the form of Hercules disappearing to the sky, riding his winged stallion until she couldn't make out their outlines anymore. Meg treasured the sight, feeling as if she wouldn't see him for a while. Then she sighed once more and headed back to where she was supposed to be, back to the palace and heading straight back to her own quarters.

She had been there hardly for a moment, when her father came storming in, accompanied by two soldiers. Behind their backs, she could see Autolycus' form. The moment Meg's father walked in, she could tell that he was truly furious.

"What did I tell you about seeing that hero?" Her father spat out, mad with fury.

"I don't…" Meg started, but the king cut her short.

"Don't you dare lie to me! Autolycus has seen you with him, doing things I do not dare to speak aloud!" The king shouted back at her. Meg's heart dropped. How much exactly had that snake seen?

"And the worst part is, that someone has told king Aedes that his future bride has been seen fooling around with someone else! I received a letter from him, do you have any idea how humiliated I feel? Do you know how hard it will be for me to marry you off when you're already spoiled goods?" The king continued, circling her like a feral animal.

Meg felt her own temper rising. "I'm not some prized mare to be sold off! I do not even want to wed him!"

"You're not even worthy of that, you insolent little girl. So I wrote back to him, reassuring him that you are sill worthy of becoming his wife and that our alliance still stands. I asked him to come as soon as him can, so I expect him to start his journey here as soon as he receives my letter. We are not going to cancel the wedding, we're going to advance them," her father told her and she felt her stomach drop, acid bile rising into her mouth.

"Please father, I ask of you, I don't want to marry him…" Meg tried to plead, to reason, with her father.

"Silence! If you don't do as your king says, so you shall be treated that way. Take her," her father then told the two soldiers.

_'Wait, what?'_ Meg felt terror rising as the two bulky men took her, dragging her away like a rag-doll. She wasn't sure what she was shouting, if she was cursing her father or promising to behave or what, but she screamed at him from the top of her lungs.

Her father was following them, calm as ever, and as usually, Autolycus was tailing the king like a dog following its tasty bone. The sight would have seem funny to Meg in any other circumstances. As the guards dragged her away, she saw their servants, her sisters, even her grandmother, staring a her with horror as the soldiers took her.

Her grandmother, queen-mother Harmonia, tried to stop her son and speak some sense into him: "Creon, you cannot be serious, you cannot do this!"

"Stay out of this, mother. This is none of your concern: this is between me and my daughter. I have to teach her some discipline," the king brushed her coldly aside and so the charade continued.

After they had headed outside, they took the direction to the south and she suddenly understood: they were taking her to the prison tower. If she was terrified before, now she was even more so. What kind of a king would put his own daughter to the prison?

When they reached the prisons, the guards simply pushed her into one of the cells and locked the door behind her. There were bare stone floors, no windows at all, only small tiny cracks in the walls and a small hatch on the door. Her father peered through the hatch, telling her with a nonchalant voice: "You will stay there until you know how to behave yourself and to follow orders given to you. In the end, you will learn to obey me and to behave as you are supposed to."

After that, the hatch was closed and Meg was left in the darkness.

* * *

Phil had noticed that the kid had changed after he had first visited king Creon's palace. It was hard to put his finger on it what it was exactly, but something had definitely changed.

That evening, the kid was practically floating in the air as he returned from the palace. He had a daze, love-struck look plastered all over his face. Not exactly what one would expect after a hard day of work.

"All right, spill the beans kid," Phil then huffed, crossing his hands on his chest as the kid waltzed inside the villa.

"I-, I'm not sure what you mean…" Hercules begun, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"Come on, kid! I was not born yesterday, I know something is going on," Phil was getting annoyed with this charade. He was the kid's coach, if something was going on, he should be the first one to know it.

"I- I think I'm in love," Hercules then blurted out, happy to share the most amazing afternoon of his life with his coach, _with his friend_.

"I'm sorry but what?" This was not what Phil had been expecting, but then the things clicked in his brains.

"You mean that daughter of Creon's, what was the dame's name again?"

"Megara, her name is Megara," Hercules was insulted that Phil hadn't even bothered to learn her name. Even more so, Phil's attitude was not something he had expected either.

"Kid, you do remember that she's ought to be married off to that king, whoever he was?" Phil sighed.

"Yes, I remember. But she does not want that either!" Hercules was getting more and more frustrated with Phil's attitude.

"What she wants doesn't matter: she's a princess, she has to do what she's told to do!" Phil then replied, annoyed by the kid's sudden stubbornness.

"What she wants matters to me!" Hercules shouted back, mustering his willpower to not snap at his coach.

"This is not what I expected when you started that work at the palace," Phil rubbed his temples, dreading the beginning headache.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Phil, but I'm not sorry for the way I feel for her. She's different from anyone I've ever met, there's something about her. And she feels the same way, she kissed me back…" After he had blurted the last part out, Hercules winced as he realized that it would have been better if he had kept the last part to himself.

"You KISSED her?! Kid, what were you thinking?" Phil could not believe his ears. What had gotten into his student?

"Well, I wasn't exactly thinking…" Hercules mumbled back quietly.

"The king could have your head for this! And mine as well! He could have both our heads in a spike! And for what? Because you went smooching his daughter!" Phil went on and on.

"You know what? I'm not sorry! What I feel for her is real, even if you don't get it!" Hercules snapped back, turning away and heading out. He really needed to work out to get all these emotions out of his system.

Left alone, Phil sighed as he sat down. He still tried to process what had just happened. That was not like the kid he had grown to know and care for. And he did feel kind of bad for getting all worked up like that. He did realize that it was not likely for Hercules to act like that if he wasn't serious with his emotions for this princess.

But nevertheless, they needed to have a serious discussion after they both had calmed down.

* * *

King was pacing anxiously in his private quarters. What had he done? He had put his own daughter in the prison and everybody in the palace knew about it. He could see it their faces, in the way they looked at him: they thought he was losing his mind and maybe he was? Who would do such a thing to his own child?

Megara had always been stubborn and unwilling to follow his orders, somehow this time he had completely lost his patience with her. He wanted her to respect him, he was her king after all, even if he was her father as well. What would people think of a king who couldn't keep his own daughter in line? How could he run a city-state then?

"I shouldn't have done that. Maybe I should let Megara out of the prison and apologize to her?" the king nervously rambled aloud.

"And what good would that do? She would keep seeing that young man behind your back. And people would inspect it as a sign of weakness." Autolycus replied, leisurely sipping wine from the goblet. He was sitting next to a table, calmly watching as the king paced back and forth.

"Well, what do they think about a king who puts his own daughter in prison?" the king pulled his graying hair in desperation.

"They think that he is a strict yet lawful king: a young woman is not allowed to see a man against her father's wishes, even if she is a princess. You made a right choice, your Highness," Autolycus got up and placed his hand on king's shoulder.

The king sighed.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe it was the right choice, even if it is a difficult one."

"The right choices are often difficult to make. Try to get some sleep, your Highness," Autolycus replied as he retrieved from his room. He would have to tell about this to Hades; he would more than thrilled.

Even without that dim-witted Autolycus, Hades had been keeping an eye out for events unfolding in the palace (like he could ever really count on that invertebrate).

* * *

The Wonderbrat had fallen for the pretty princess, which made her daddy furious. So furious, that the daddy dearest threw his little princess into the dungeon of the palace! Talk about daddy issues, thanks to his more than _slightly_ complicated family relations, Hades knew all about those things. Well, luckily Hades did have some use for the pretty princess, in case she would be willing to cooperate. (And Hades would make sure to find a way to make her obey.)

Foolish mortals (and one even more foolish demigod) they were all playing their roles just according his plans. He felt Autolycus summoning him, the soundless bustle of his calls vibrating through every cell of his body. He didn't need Autolycus' information: instead, he needed to tell his minion of their next step.

_Everything was going even better than he had anticipated._

* * *

-A/N: Whew, lots of things happening at the same time! Sorry for being absent for longer than I intended, I had this called 'life' going on (no, seriously I had lots of social events and trips happening and I also needed to think about the overall story-line. We're getting there, I think). Thank you so much for favorites, reviews and giving me some motivation to continue!

Shout-outs for Nutmeg: Aww, thanks! I so happy you liked it! Unfortunately, things are starting to go a bit sour... Let's still keep our spirits up!

And Spirit of the Earth: Thank you so much for your review! It made my day. Let's do our best to keep the fandom alive!


	7. Locked Away From the Sun

**Locked Away From the Sun**

_"For my dreams I hold my life_  
_For wishes I behold my night_  
_The truth at the end of time_  
_Losing faith makes a crime._

_\- Sleeping Sun_ by Nightwish

* * *

Meg had gotten use to the darkness: the company of her own thoughts, though, were harder to get used to.

She had lost the track of time, when something unusual stopped her routines: she heard voices, outside of her sell.

As she listened more intently, she did recognize the voice speaking: her grandmother.

"My son wishes me to talk with my grand-daughter. Are you refusing the king's commands?" she heard her grandmother arguing, obviously lecturing the guards.

"I'm sorry Your Highness, we received no word of you or princess Henioche coming to see the prisoner," one of the guards uncertainly explained.

"Well, this is unheard of! I'll go get the king myself and I'm sure he'll give you a piece of his mind…" Meg heard how her grandmother was starting to lose her nerve.

"Alright, no need for that, we'll let you in," the other guard replied, obviously not ready to face the wrath of the king.

The cell's door creaked open and two familiar figures hurried in.

"My dear!" the queen-mother pulled Meg into her arms and Meg felt tears filling her eyes.

"Oh look at you darling, the state you're in! My poor dear," she cooed at her granddaughter.

Meg fought against sobbing, trying to stay calm.

"I'm quite alright grandma. The situation isn't quite ideal, though," Meg forced out a smile.

"Meg! We were so worried!" Her younger sister, Henioche, pulled her into a frenzied hug after Meg had been freed from Harmonia's grip.

"It's okay, no need to worry," Meg patted her sister's back, trying to calm her down.

"I can't believe father did this to you!" Henioche shook fiercely her head, as if trying to get the image out of her head.

"Is there any truth to your father told us, that you were engaged with someone even though you are promised to king Aedes?" her grandmother seemed troubled and wave of uneasiness ran through Meg.

"Well, it's not like that. Exactly," Meg uneasily replied.

"Well, how is it then?" Harmonia pressed on, crossing her arms on her chest.

"We just… Talked, mostly. I really liked him, I felt that for once, someone understood me and saw me for the person I was, not just as my father's daughter or as my title or position," Meg tried to explain: oh badly she wanted them to understand. It was not like she had done anything bad, right?

"Oh Meg. I understand that, I do: but did you think of the consequences of your actions when you did all that? Did you think of the best of our people?" Harmonia run her hand through Meg's hair as she spoke.

"Or did you just think of your own self?" Henioche quietly whispered, but loud enough for Meg to hear. Meg felt regret hitting her as she realized the answer to their questions.

"I… I didn't. I didn't think of anybody else, but myself," Meg quietly admitted, the tears filling her eyes once again. Father was right: she had been acting like a selfish little girl.

"You should, Meg. No matter what you do, you should put your people first, not your own selfish wishes or desires," Harmonia sternly told her.

"Look dear, we do not agree with Creon's decision to put you here, he has been too stern on you: but you have to admit, he had his reasons," Harmonia carried on.

"We really don't like seeing you like this Meg. But you should use this time wisely: you should think of what is expected of you, what is your duty. You're not a little girl any more, so stop acting like a selfish little brat," Henioche chimed in.

"So what should I do then?" Meg whispered, the guilt gnawing inside of her.

"Start acting like a princess and do your duty," Harmonia quietly replied to her.

"You mean accepting my position as king Aedes' fiancée?" Meg made sure.

"Yes, that and turning down that boy you have been seeing. It's better to end things before neither of you get more deeply involved. Remember: whatever you do, put the best of our city-state always as your first priority. That is the way you have been brought up," Harmonia emphasized the last part, taking Meg's hands into her own.

"We only say this because we love you and care about your well-being," Henioche echoed on.

"You are both right. I… I will think about it," Meg quietly replied.

"That's my good girl," Harmonia murmured as she placed a kiss on Meg's forehead, before the two of them retrieved away from the room.

Meg wasn't able to see that after her 'grandmother' and 'sister' slipped out of the room, they also slipped into their real forms: the ones of henchmen of the Underworld, Pain and Panic. The two small daimons scurried back to Underworld without anyone seeing them, to tell their master that they had done his bidding.

* * *

When the morning came, Hercules received a formal scroll from the king Creon, telling him that his duties were no longer needed. Hercules feared worst; had something happened to Meg. Had king Creon figured out what was going on between them?

"Something's wrong. I need to go to the royal palace, I need to see that Meg… The royal family is safe," Hercules quickly corrected as he noticed the look Phil gave him.

"Look kid, I know you're worried, but there's nothing we can do!" Phil objected, but the kid wouldn't listen.

So instead, Phil decided to join the kid to make sure he wouldn't do anything foolish.

As they reached the palace, the guards sternly stopped them from entering.

"The king thanks you for your services, but they are no longer required in the palace," the older one of the guards, the one higher in rank, politely told them, yet his voice was devoid of all emotion.

"But I wish to speak to the king! What about the training of the troops?" Hercules felt agitated.

"As I said, king thanks you for your services, but they are no longer needed," the guard stiffly repeated.

"This is one chilly reception, considering you have saved his city-state from being demolished numerous times," Phil huffed out.

"This is ridiculous!" Hercules was truly getting frustrated.

"If you won't cooperate, we are to remove you with force," the guard told them and the younger guard had started to move restlessly, obviously getting ready to interfere forcefully if the situation demanded it.

Hercules almost wanted to laugh out, if the situation would have been different: did they truly think that they would be able to remove him against his own wish?

Even through all his frustration, his sensible side knew that after these two guards, there would be an endless stream of new guards from the palace and they were only doing their job, the situation wasn't truly their fault. So fighting against them wouldn't do any good, it would only make the situation worse. Especially since they hadn't done anything wrong, they just followed their king's orders, on which Hercules strongly disagreed upon.

"Kid, let's just go. Barging into the palace won't do us any good," Phil pulled the hem of his tunic, urging him to follow him and return to Pegasus.

He wanted to object, to do something, but instead, Hercules sighed, following his trainer back to his loyal steed. Pegasus whinnied sympathetically as he noticed his master's agitation.

"This has something to do with Meg, I'm sure of it," Hercules then told his trainer and his winged companion.

"That seems like a correct answer. I'm sorry about that, I really am, but I warned you that something like this would happen," Phil replied, trying to reason with him.

"Is that suppose to make me feel better?" Hercules snapped angrily as he turned to face Phil.

"Look kid, I know it hurts, but we simply have to wait and see how this situation unravels," Phil tried to comfort his student, but judging by the look on his face, he had failed miserably.

"But if something is wrong, I should help her, I should do something..." Hercules rambled on, trying to wreck his brain with some sort of a plan.

"You don't even know if she's in trouble or not," Phil tried to interfere, but it wasn't much use. He tried to comfort his student, telling him that it was probably for the best that his romance with the princess had come to an end. All they could do was to wait. But wait for what?

Hercules was frustrated: something was going on, something was wrong and he was just supposed to wait and do nothing?

* * *

Hades was feeling triumphant as he closely monitored on how the events kept unfolding. He had left the little princess marinating in her own guilt and he had to hand it to them, Pain and Panic had done exceptional job by performing as members of the royal family. The theatre of Epidaurus did not know what it had missed in those two! And the boy-wonder was head over heels with worry for his little sweetheart. When the time would come, he was certain the two of them would play their roles ever so nicely, just as he had expected of them.

Autolycus himself had proven to be even less useful than Hades had originally thought, but he had given the piece of information Hades had needed the most: what to use to bring Wonderbreath down. Even against all odds, Autolycus had turned out to be an essential piece of his masterplan.

Hades rubbed his hands together in an excited manner: only few days to go and the real fun would start. He could hardly wait for it, but then again, why would few days more matter when he had waited for his revenge for _eons_?

* * *

-A/N: Poor Meg, first imprisoned and now quilt-tripping? I'm sorry for longer wait than I originally intended, my work-life has been really stressful and I've been feeling kinda down. I'm still not quite sure with this chapter, but then again, I wanted to put something up. Thanks for all the reviews, you guys make me really happy!

Nutmeg: So glad you're still enjoying this!

Maya: I have to be honest; I haven't really thought about it, and I don't feel that I'm really good with that kind of fiction. But I'll give it some thought!

Guest: Glad you're liking this, the chapter is up now!

A Strawberry: I'm happy that you're liking the parallels and the fic itself! We'll just have to see how Hades interfering with things will affect the outcome!


	8. The Devil Meets The Damsel

**The Devil Meets The Damsel**

_"Who tied my hands to the wheel?_  
_The zodiac turns over me_  
_(Come to me)_  
_Somewhere there my fate revealed_  
_I hear but how will I see."_

_\- Siren_ by Nightwish

* * *

The next few days, king Creon was able to busy himself with preparations for the wedding. King Aedes had sent him a word that he had received Creon's letter and by the time Creon would receive his response, he would have started his journey to Thebes. Creon was glad of these news as the palace was still frequently being visited by that certain young hero, who demanded to see his daughter. Creon had assured himself, time and time again, that he had only done what was necessary to prevent the situation of getting out of his hands.

But at the same time, he also felt anxious: he had seen the way the palace staff, his subjects and even the members of his own family were looking at him. Was he really going insane? Sometimes he wasn't sure even himself.

Autolycus, his loyal advisor, had reassured him time after time that he was only doing what was necessary. But was he? Was it really necessary for him to lock away his daughter, his own daughter, before giving her away for some man he had only briefly met before; Megara herself had never met him, which she had been more than happy to point out to him time after time.

During his busy days he was able to bury these thoughts to the back of his mind, but when the night-time fell, he wasn't as lucky.

Creon had been pacing around his private bedroom, but as the pacing offered him no consolation, he finally stopped his pacing and sat down to his bed with a sigh. He buried his face to his hands and muttered to himself:

"Oh Gods, how I wish you were here to guide me Eurydiche, my love."

But his wishes stayed ungranted and he stayed just as lonely and disoriented as before.

* * *

Meg had lost the track of time for how long she had been locked away in her cell. The only way of tracking time was watching sun go down and appearing once again the next morning as Apollo started his day's work from the small sliver of the so-called window. Of course there were meals delivered to her cell punctually, but that was all to help her keep some sort track of time.

She had thought, over and over, what her grandmother and her sister Henioche had told her. And she had come to a realization that they had been right to scold her: she had been selfish and rash.

Maybe they had been right: maybe she had deserved to be treated like this. If her father ever forgave her, she had to change the way she acted. To become more unselfish, putting her people's needs before her own.

As she thought about these things, she sat in the corner of the room, hunched into a small ball.

She was taken aback when suddenly an unfamiliar figure appeared in her cell, with another person, who was unfortunately familiar to her.

"Meg, babe! Can I call you Meg? Name's Hades, Lord of the Dead, hi, how you're doing?" the taller figure babbled on and offered his hand like she should shake it. Meg gave him an unamused and incredulous look.

"Uh-huh. Right. Lord of Dead? I'm not doing that great, but as far as I know, I'm not dying either. So what the heck are you doing here and with him?" Meg got up to her feet and nudged her head into the direction of Autolycus.

"Ha! That's really cute. You sure are self-assured for someone locked in a prison. You're a smart cookie, aren't you? You could say we're working together, Autolycus and moí, well, he's working for me, that would be more accurate," Hades paced around her enthusiastically.

"We can give you your freedom, princess Megara," Autolycus added silkily, his voice soundy almost oily to Meg's ears.

"Does my father know that you serve another master?" Meg gave Autolycus an icy looked, who shrugged in return.

"Your father may the king, but there's no need for him to know about all things," Autolycus gave her a smile, which she guessed was meant to be charming, but which Meg interpreted as calculated and predatory.

"We might disagree on that one. But nothing comes freely, so what's your price?" Meg crossed her hands on her chest, giving them another hard look.

"Weeeell, let's just say I'm in the middle of removal. Moving to a bigger apartment, you see. Cosmic removals are a real drag, just take my word for it, okay? Don't you just _hate_ burocracy? So here's the deal: you have been awfully close with this certain hunky son of Zeus. Unfortunately, he's been a constant fly in my baclava, to speak metaphorically. So as a fair God, I'm just asking you to do teeny, tiny favor for me: help me bring that nuisance down. So you help me with that problem, and boom! You're free, as free as humming-bird!" Hades quickly summed up and Meg gave an unbelieving laugh.

"You're kidding, right? I'll never help you to hurt Hercules!" Meg shook her head furiously turning away from her.

"Sweetheart, I would never play games with you," Hades gave her suggestive smile which made her skin crawl.

"You might as well, I'm not gonna help you," she told him defiantly.

"Babe, when I said you would be free, I meant literally free: no forced marriages or anything of that sort, you would decide what to do for yourself. Wouldn't that be great, to once decide for yourself what to do?" Hades wrapped a meaty arm around Meg, vividly painting a picture with his other hand.

"But I thought…" Autolycus interjected, but only a menacing look from Hades was enough to shut him up.

"Let me do the thinking here, you ain't exactly Archimedes himself," Hades spat at him.

"Look, I don't care what you offer to me, I'm not gonna let you hurt him!" Meg pulled herself free from his grip and Hades' face grew dark.

"Yeah, well, dallying with him has really paid off to you, hasn't it? Here you are, locked up and where is your hero? Certainly not here, is he?" Hades pointed out.

"I'm no damsel in distress needing someone to save me!" Meg snapped back and Hades huffed out a dry laugh.

"You've _really_ got some attitude for somebody locked up good and tight by _her own father_. Think of what these people have done to you: what do you own to any of them!" Hades was starting to lose his cool.

"Don't waste you breath: I told you my final decision and nothing you will say can change my mind," Meg told him, once again turning her back on him. Her deliberate ignorance of him irked him off. Oh how Hades _hated_ when mortals thought they above him: he was a God, lord of the Dead himself!

"I gave you a chance to cooperate with us and you refused! Hey, I'm a patient guy, but I can't force you to work with us! Well, doesn't matter: you're gonna come with us anyway. If you won't work with us voluntarily, I could always use a hostage. You know, _a leverage_," Hades snapped his fingers and Meg was restrained with bonds made of smoke. She tried to scream, but her mouth was gagged as well.

"Hey, nobody said life was fair, little princess!" Hades smiled at her mockingly after receiving a furious look from her.

"And after all this is over, she'll be mine as you promised, right master?" Autolycus made sure, twirling around her like a dog would prance around its bone. Meg felt her blood boil. This creep had betrayed her father, her family, her people and _why_? Because he wanted to have his way with her? She had always known he was a creep, but she had no idea that he was a creep of this level. Disgusting.

Her face must have betrayed her thoughts as Autolycus pulled her closer and whispered to her ear: "I'll change your mind, my sweet. You'll see, eventually. I'll make you see."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's get this caravan moving," Hades was already bored with the scene unraveling before him: he had more important things to attend to. As he snapped his fingers again, all three of them had disappeared and the cell was left empty.

* * *

It was only during the next morning when the guards noticed that the cell was empty and the princess was nowhere to be seen.

That same morning, the Spartan king Aedes had arrived to Thebes in his all grandeur, only to find out that his bride was missing.

Creon felt his temper running short: he really needed to discipline his guards when this mess was over. How could anyone lose a person from a locked room? Those incompetent idiots! And where was Autolycus when he most needed his aid?

"How is this possible? You insult me, king Creon: inviting me here when you don't even know about my bride's whereabouts!" King Aedes paced the throne-room from one side to another.

"I come here, only to find out that my bride has gone missing! This is humiliating!" He raved on and on.

"My most sincere apologies, king Aedes. We had her under our supervision, we have no idea what could have happened!" King Creon tried to reason with the furious monarch.

"Maybe you could consider marrying one of my other daughters, hmph? Henioche has reached the age as well," Creon gestured towards his daughters, seated on the other side of the room. Henioche had a hopeful expression in her face: she didn't care who she would marry, she wanted to become a married woman and a real lady!

"Hmph," king Aedes stopped his pacing for a moment, studying the princess before him.

"Megara is the most beautiful one, is she not? In that case, I want her," king Aedes told him bluntly, unresolving as he had made up his mind.

King Creon sighed. He knew only one possible person could help him in this situation, in case he would be willing to help.

Most likely Creon himself had already burnt that bridge down and even if he did not like the idea of asking for his help, did he really have any options in this matter?

With a deep sigh, Creon summoned his messenger and sent his messenger to pass him his word.

Now he could only hope.

* * *

-A/N: Yes, another update: plot thickens! And Meg and Hades finally met! I know that Hades isn't technically a devil, but I liked that title so much that I decided to just run with it.

Good news is that I finally figured the most of the plot-line out (yes, I had some parts I wasn't quite sure of) and if I would have to guess, I would guess we have from four to six chapters left before the end. Yikes!

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing!


	9. Noctural Wishes and Pleas

**Nocturnal Wishes and Pleas**

_"Macrocosm poured its powers on me_  
_And the hopes of this world I now must leave_  
_The night wish I sent you centuries ago_  
_Has been heard by those who dwelled in a woe."_

_-Astral Romance_ by Nightwish

* * *

Hercules had been left tangling in the uncertainty for several days now: he had tried to visit the palace for numerous times and always, his requests were more or less politely declined. He had tried to write to Meg, but the scrolls he tried to sent to her weren't replied to.

He knew that something was wrong, but he had no idea what had happened to her: somehow he did know that she was being forcefully being kept away from him, but what could he do?

He had even talked to his divine father, to Zeus, of his problem, who had politely pointed out to his son that a father had the right to take care of his daughter and the king to decide who was welcome to his palace: there were certain cosmic rules not even the Gods themselves were able to cross, not without unsettling the cosmic balance.

Then Zeus kindly reminded his son that he had bigger goals to concentrate on: his mind was still set on becoming a God once again, was it not? Hercules sheepishly realized that his mind had been so focused on other things (or more like, on certain someone), that he had forgotten about his original goal. Discouraged Hercules promised to his father that he would make sure that becoming a God would stay as his priority.

"That's my boy! We count on you!" Zeus tried to encouraged him before his spirit left the statue and it became immobile marble once again.

Frustrated Hercules hurled his fist to the mosaic floor of the temple: so had Meg been counting on him and he had failed her. He knew something was wrong: he knew it.

His loyal friend Pegasus came to offer him some consolation by nudging him, but it offered Hercules only little ease.

After a moment, Hercules gathered himself and rose back to his feet.

"Come on Pegasus, let's go back home," he quietly told his companion as he absentmindedly scratched his head and the horse whinnied to him as an answer.

The ventured back to Thebes in silence and Hercules considered what his father had said to him. It had been pretty much exactly the same things as Phil had told him, even if his father had used more civilized terms to address similar aspects.

Phil had pointed out that Hercules shouldn't let any dame pull his attention away from his main goal. Phil had also noted that his concentration on his dream scattered from the moment he had met the princess. Hercules sighed as he considered things: he hated to admit it, but Phil was right. But she was in an obvious need of help, his help, he could not turn his back to someone needing help as desperately as she did! So from his own perspective, he was doing the right thing, even if it did _complicate_ other things.

When Hercules finally arrived to his villa, Phil was waiting there. Uncharacteristically for his trainer, he was pacing around the atrium as if he was feeling anxious.

"Hey. Something wrong, Phil?" Hercules wearily greeted him.

"Dunno. Maybe, or maybe not. A scroll arrived for you. It's from the palace," Phil offered a scroll, which was slightly crumpled and moist from being held for so long.

Suddenly Hercules' demeanor changed and he almost in his anxiety jumped to take the scroll from Phil's hand.

Phil studied the kid's face as he read the scroll. His brow was set in a determined manner and he gritted his jaw: whatever was written down to the scroll, the kid had already made up his mind concerning it.

"What is it, then?" Phil let finally out a weary sigh after various moments of silence.

"The king summons me to the palace. Something seems to be wrong," Hercules finally spoke out.

"That's unfortunate," Phil's brows knitted together, but before he had any opportunity comment further on, his pupil was already striding towards the door.

"You're not going help him, are you? After the way he treated you?" Phil tried to stop Hercules by pulling his leg, but it was as useful as a cricket trying to to stop a wild-horse.

"Of course I am. Something's wrong and Meg might need my help," Hercules absently told him.

"But kid, she just disappeared on you for DAYS! If you wanna go there, then fine: don't say I didn't warn ya. Just don't rush into anything head first, okay? Just... Think about it, ya hear me kid?" Phil pleaded, trying to drill some common sense into his head-strong pupil.

"Fine," Hercules growled back at him, barely listening. Phil tried to shake away the involuntary urge to _shake_ some sense into him.

"I'll meet later on at the stadium for your work-out, then we'll figure out what to do," Phil involuntarily agreed.

"_Fine_," Hercules simply repeated, before he took off with Pegasus once again.

Phil wanted to let out another weary sigh himself. The last few days the kid had not been the same as he usually was: he had been much more anxious, absent and short-tempered than he usually was.

Phil could only hope that all this fuss concerning that girl would come to its end and they could once again focus on their main focus: all he could do was to hope that the kid wouldn't do anything foolish.

Knowing that kid, like that would be even an option.

* * *

Hercules' mind was both filled with happiness, anxiety and worry as he made his way to the palace with Pegasus: would he finally see Meg and understand what was going on? Or would king ask him to stay permanently away from his daughter? Was everything okay with Meg, she hadn't suffered because of him: Hercules could not forgive himself if she had.

The king had requested Hercules to his palace once again, even though he had just declined him from entering. Hercules felt unusually furious: he had no interest in the king's games, he wanted to know what had happened to Meg.

The guards escorted him to the throne-room: obviously he was to be kept closely an eye on and he was not allowed to wander by himself in the palace anymore.

From Hercules' perspective, the journey to the throne-room seemingly lasted forever, even if in reality it was a question of mere moments. When they finally reached their destination, Hercules found another man in the company of king Creon: strangely enough the king's advisor was nowhere to be seen. Hercules had no more time to ponder on this discovery as the king started to speak.

"Oh, good. You came after all," the king sighed from relief, looking weary.

"I came as you requested," Hercules frowned. The king himself had kept him coming to the palace and now he was happy to see him: what exactly was going on?

"Hercules, the matter I have in my hand is one of utmost importance. My daughter, Megara, has gone missing," king Creon gravely stated. Hercules felt his heart skipping a beat. _'Meg, missing? How? Why?'_

"She was under my custody, when she suddenly went missing. I don't think it would be possible for her to leave such circumstances alone without aid, so I must believe she has been kidnapped," the king elaborated on. Hercules curled his fist as if to keep himself from punching someone: what did the king mean that she had been under his custody? He tried to chase these thoughts away and concentrate on the problem on hand.

"Oh, this is unfortunate indeed! We have angered Hades, the lord of the Underworld! He has gotten hold of princess Megara! Oh how unfortunate indeed!" Autolycus suddenly dramatically entered the throne-room, wringing his hands in apparent desperation.

"Autolycus? Where have you been? And what is this that you're telling me concerning Megara?" Creon furrowed his eyebrows as his advisor made his sudden appearance.

Hercules too furrowed his brows upon hearing Autolycus' news. Hades? Why would his estranged uncle want to kidnap Meg?

"Oh my king, when I heard that Megara had gone missing, I started my own investigation! I hunted for her with cats and dogs, I swear to you! And here's is what I discovered: Hades, the lord of the Underworld, has her," Autolycus quickly explained as he bowed down before the king.

"How have we angered Hades?" Creon pondered upon what Autolycus had just told him.

"Well, maybe we haven't offered enough goods for him? Maybe we haven't shown enough respect?" Autolycus quickly responded: in Hercules' opinion, he answered too quickly as if the response had been rehearsed.

"If the Gods are being angered, there usually is a good reason behind it," Hercules interfered and for a moment Autolycus looked irked because of his comment.

"The Gods have their own reasons, which are often unfathomable for us mortals," Autolycus snapped back at him. Before Hercules had opportunity to question this logic, a man, unfamiliar to Hercules, took part in the conversation.

"What are you going to do about this, Creon? I want my bride!" the obese man snapped at Creon, who sighed wearily.

"This is king Aedes and he is here to marry my daughter," the king gestured towards the man beside him.

King Aedes was old, probably over sixty, with tufts of hair here and there over his head. He was also exceptionally obese and his facial expressed continuous discontent. Hercules could not bringing himself to imagine him touching Meg without feeling his blood boiling with anger.

"Hercules, if you bring my daughter back to me, I'll give you what ever you desire for," king Creon continued, seeming much more pleading and desperate than was usual for him.

"I came here to get my bride and I won't leave without her," king Aedes smiled viciously.

Hercules balled his fists in fury: _How dare he? Who was this man, claiming that he was worthy enough for Meg when he clearly was not? _With all his will of power, he fought against the thought of doing something inadvisable: then again, the king of Sparta was obviously asking for i.

After a moment of silence, king Creon pleaded once again:

"Please, I swear on the name of almighty Zeus himself that what ever you request, you shall have, if you find my daughter for me."

"You swear that on my father's name?" Hercules ensured.

The Theban king swallowed, realizing the magnitude of his promise. Both Autolycus and Aedes studied him expectantly, both realizing the significance of that moment.

"I swear."

Hercules collected himself, finding his resolution.

"I will find your daughter, your Highness. I'm not doing it for neither for you nor king Aedes, but for her own sake," Hercules told them rigidly.

King Creon seemed a bit taken aback by his reply and king Aedes beside him narrowed his eyes at him, showing openly his discontent with his reply.

"Fine, whatever your reasons are, as long as you help us find her," king Creon agreed, sighing out with relief.

Hercules simply nodded as a reply to him, already striding away from the throne-room.

He needed to find her now, nothing else mattered at the moment.

* * *

-A/N: Boom, the newest chapter is here! Finally getting to see how Herc is holding up (not so good).

I calculated that there should be more or less from four to five chapters left. So we're getting closer to the end!

Thank you for reading and reviewing, see you soon!


	10. When Things Start Going Wrong

**When Things Start Going Wrong**

_"I've been waiting for someone like you_  
_But now you are slipping away_  
_Why, why does fate make us suffer?_  
_There's a curse between us, between me and you."_

_\- What Have You Done_ by Within Temptations

* * *

Phil had been waiting for Hercules at the stadium for his student's work out for quite some time.

Phil could only guess why visiting the palace would take such a long time. But when Hercules finally came back, Phil forgot his already planned scolding as he had hard time recognizing his student. Hercules' appearance was wild, furious: something was very obviously wrong.

"Kid, what's wrong?" Phil hesitantly approached him.

"Meg is gone. Somebody has kidnapped her," Hercules told him, anger lacing his words.

"Oh. Well, that's unfortunate. Hope the king has someone trustworthy looking for her," Phil replied.

"He has now," Hercules sternly replied, then hurrying to gather his gear.

Phil remained taken by surprise, then he hurried after his student.

"Wait, wait, wait! I thought this chapter was going to end! You're still not going after her, are you? After all the crap king Creon and his people have given you? And that chick, did you forget she just disappeared on you?" Phil made sure, shaking his head with disbelief.

"Of course I remember all that. I'm not a complete idiot. But what did you expect, I can't let Meg down!" Hercules barked back.

"Look, I know you care about her, but princesses are political game-pieces, their own wants and needs do not matter," Phil then told Hercules, reminding him of something similar Meg had told him earlier on. Hercules bit back any angry reply that was already forming on his lips.

"Look kid, I know it's hard, but you've got to sit this one out," Phil tried to gain control of himself trying his best to comfort his student, but judging by the look on his face, had failed miserably.

"You just wish she wasn't involved so there wouldn't be anything to pull my attention away from this hero stuff," Hercules angrily blamed his trainer.

"Yeah, what about it? You've got enough on your plate as it is, you need no more distractions! And what do you expect will happen, you knew she's about to marry someone else! Obviously the king won't approve of you dallying with his daugther!" Phil pointed out, some edginess evident in his voice.

"I wasn't dallying with her, I love her!" Hercules shouted back.

"Well, she doesn't love you!" Phil finally lost his temper, shouting back at his student.

"SHUT UP!" Hercules cried out in red-hot anger, hurling his fist towards his trainer, his friend, who was catapulted to a piece of equipment with a loud thud.

Silence fell over the stadium. Hercules had never used his powers against any of his friends, he had never done anything like that before.

"Phil, I'm sorry…" Hercules started, but the satyr shook his head.

"If that's how you think and feel, then fine," Phil simply replied collecting himself.

"Wait! Where, where are you going?" Hercules asked as he saw his long-time friend walking away from the stadium and walking away from him.

"I'm hopping to the first barge, I'm going back home," Phil coldly told him.

"Fine, I don't-, don't need you!" Hercules yelled back at him, turning his back at him to finish collecting his gear.

"I thought you were going to be the all-time champ, not the all-time chump," Phil sadly whispered as he watched his protege receding away from him.

Angry Hercules vented his anger to piece of equipment, but his anger was starting to dissipate and regret was starting to re-place it. Why had he done such a thing to Phil? He had been so cautious of using his strength in a civilized manner: no matter what Phil had said about Meg, what he had done wasn't right. He was starting to have second-thoughts.

Before he had anymore time to contemplate on what had happened, a figure appeared before him.

"Geez Louise, what did that barbell ever do to you?" The figure, a deity, in fact, conversationally said to him. Hercules restrained the will to growl: he had no interest in engaging in the games of his divine relatives at the present moment, especially not when the relative in question was he's estranged and (eccentric) uncle who conveniently happened to the same person holding Meg as his prisoner.

"Name's Hades, Lord of the Dead, hi, how you're doin'?" he offered his hand to Hercules.

"So you're the one who took Meg. Let her go, NOW!" Hercules tried to grip the God's tunic, but he turned into smoke before he could do so.

"Ooh, careful! You might hurt someone! Wait, you already did!" Hades mockingly reminded him and Hercules felt shame coming over him as he remembered what he had just done to Phil.

"Well, your sweet Meg is really only part of a bigger picture, so to speak. I've got this venture, real estates if you will, but you seem to be constantly getting on my way," Hades carried on pleasantly.

"What do I have to do with you capturing her?" Hercules tried to pull away, not understanding how he could affect his uncle's affairs when they hardly knew each other.

"Well. A whole lot, it seems. You're quite interested in her well-being, aren't you?" Hades smiled maliciously and as he snapped his fingers, a figure of Meg appeared before Hercules.

"Meg!" he cried out, running towards her.

"Don't listen to him," Meg tried to talk to him, but she was gagged and before he could get to her, she disappeared and re-appeared farther away.

"Let her go!" Hercules felt his heart hammering in his chest: he never meant for Meg to get in the

harm's way. What if something would happen to her? He could never forgive himself. He had already let Phil down: he wouldn't do the same for Meg, that was for certain.

"Here's the trade off: you give up your strength for 24 for hours. Okay, let's say the next 24 hours, and Meg here is as free as a bird," Hades patted her hair and she gave him an annoyed look. Hercules wanted to do so much more to Hades then just that.

"We dance, we kiss, we schoomze, we go home happy, whadday say?" Hades rambled on, obviously trying to talk Hercules into accepting his offer.

"People will get hurt, won't they?" he understood more than better that his actions would eventually have consequences. But then again, how could he risk Meg getting hurt?

"Nah, there's that possibly with war, but what can I tell you? What do you own to these people? Isn't Meg, your little smoochie smoochie, more important?" Hades placed his hand on her cheeks, forcing her to look at him with her pleading eyes.

"Stop it!" Hercules shouted, fighting his natural instinct to simply charge at Hades.

"Isn't she?" Hades demanded his answer and true enough, he had to admit that she was.

"You'll have to swear she'll be safe from any harm," if he was gonna take this deal, he had to be sure it wasn't for nothing.

"Fine! Meg will be safe, otherwise you'll get your strength back. On fine print, boiler plate, bla bla bla," Hades offered his hand, ready to seal the deal.

"I really don't have time to bat this around, got plans for August. Going once, going twice –" he counted on, forcing Hercules into making a quick decision. He looked at Meg, who was frantically shaking her head.

"Okay," Hercules agreed and Hades rose his hand in victory.

"Yes! We're done. BAM!"

As Hades took Hercules' hand, the hero felt as not only his strength, but his whole life-force itself, was being sucked away. He felt dizzy, disoriented.

"You may feel kinda squesy, it's kinda natural. Maybe you should SIT DOWN!" Hades yelled as he quickly shot a large barbell towards Hercules. Now trapped between his normal workout gear and the ground, he truly realized what he had just done. Hades then gleefully told him: "Isn't being like everybody else just peachy?"

Hades then moved towards Meg, snapping his fingers and her restraints disappeared.

"Meg, babe, you're off the hook," He told her, playing with her hair. She sighed, looking forlorn.

"She's all yours no, dingus. Have fun with little miss head-strong and keep an eye on her. We don't need her causing any more trouble," Hades spat to Autolycus who had been monitoring the events at the other end of the stadium, almost concealed by the shadows.

"I will. Thank you master," Autolycus smiled in a self-assured manner.

Hades wanted to scoff: he felt almost sorry for the girl, leaving someone as smart as her with such a incompetent, dim-witted twit.

Well, whatever: he wouldn't have to worry about them anymore, he had enough on his hands at it was. He turned around, making his way to his chariot, pulled by two griffins. His two minions scurried after him, tripping over each other in their hurry.

"Meg, thank the Gods, I was so worried," Hercules started to make his way to her, taking in her disheveled state. He stopped short when he saw the way she looked at him.

"How could you do that? You gave your strength away, putting all of the city-state into danger!" Meg's voice hitched with desperation.

"I… I did it for you, because I care about you," Hercules tried to reason to her, but she shook her head.

"No, don't you see? Risking thousands of lives, because of me? If anything happens to the people of Thebes, I'll be blaming myself!" Meg shook her head frantically.

"So I'll leave you two lovers to your little romantic rendezvous, I got a whole cosmos waiting for me, with hey! My name on it," Hades announced, pleased with his handiwork as he harnessed his chariot towards the almost unveiled prison of Titans.

"No, that's not… No. Meg, what's wrong? You don't seem like yourself," Hercules pleaded as he moved closer to her, studying her appearance more closely now.

"Nothing is wrong. In fact, I haven't seen things this clearly in a long time. I just… I wish you hadn't run into any incorrect conclusions," Meg sighed and Hercules felt uneasy: what did she exactly mean by that?

"What do you mean?" Hercules than spoke out loud his thoughts, already fearing the answer.

"Hercules, we should have ended all of this much, much earlier on," Meg then replied, regret clouding her violet eyes.

"No," Hercules could not believe his ears: he had done all this for her and she was turning him down?

"I liked you, but I know my duty and I now know my place: no matter what happens, I will have to marry king Aedes. That is the only possible outcome of all this and you should accept it as well," Meg calmly replied.

"Meg, don't say things like that, I know you don't mean…" Hercules pleaded to her, but she simply shook her head.

"But I do mean them. I'm sorry, I really am. But you knew this would happen. We both did," Meg's voice was heavy with resolution.

"Meg, I'm sorry, I got you into trouble. But we can figure this out, I'm sure of," he sincerely told her, once again moving towards her, but she moved away, shaking her head.

"There's no 'we', which you are referring to. Never was," Meg coldly told him and he felt his heart sinking.

"What?" he asked, not believing his ears.

"That is what I wanted to tell you. I'm sorry if I led you to believe otherwise, but there is no 'us' and never will be. I will marry king Aedes just as I'm supposed to and you will forget about me," Meg

carried on further.

"No, you know that there really was something between us. We both felt it…" Hercules shook his head, not believing what he was hearing.

"I don't know whatever you felt, but I did not feel a thing for you," Meg told him, biting her back teeth together.

Unbelieving Hercules studied her, shaking his head in disbelief. He felt sadness, rage, betrayal, worse than anything else he had ever felt before. He had given up his greatest asset for her and she tossed him aside without even caring about it. How could she?

"You were right about one thing," he quietly told her.

"What was that?"

"I really did not know what kind of person you were," he gave her another look, a look of pure heartbreak and betrayl, before he turned around and exited arena, hurrying away from her.

The impact of what she had just said and done fell heavily upon her and her emotions got best of her. Meg fell down to her knees sobbing, not being able to fight the tears filling her eyes.

"That's our good girl. You did what you had to do," Autolycus cooed at her, running his fingers through her hair.

"Get away from me! Leave me alone," Meg pulled away from, loathing his touch.

"He hates you, you know? Well done, my dear," Autolycus whispered to her ear.

"Just leave me alone," Meg whispered, not needing any more reminders of what she had just done.

"No, I'll never leave you, my dearest," Autolycus responded, placing his hand on her shoulder and Meg felt a chill running down her spine.

* * *

-A/N: Okay, that was hard for all of us, I think. If you wondered on Meg's reaction, you might remember how Hades tried to use Meg's so-called sister and grandmother to manipulate her. That didn't work out, but it did make Meg think that she had been selfish and reconsider some things, and in the end, it made her act out in such manner. Poor Herc!

Sakura: Sorry for keeping you waiting, here's the next chapter!


	11. Fighting For a Better Tomorrow

**Fighting For a Better Tomorrow**_  
_

_"A place between sleep and awake _  
_End of innocence, unending masquerade _  
_That's where I'll wait for you _

_Hold me near you _  
_So close I sear you _  
_Seeing, believing _  
_Dreaming, decieving." _

_-Sleepwalker_ by Nightwish

* * *

Phil was slowly making his way to the harbor when something was wrong. The sudden terror and panic was going through the city like an electric shock: it was lacing the city-state's air like tension at summertime before a great thunderstrom.

From the information he was able to gather from various people, a Cyclops, a monster he had only heard of from the tales, had attacked the city of Thebes. The people were in a frenzy, trying desperately to escape from the beast. The monstrosity wreaked havoc in the city-state.

Phil was repeating inside his mind that this was no longer his problem: somebody else could take care of it, he would simply take a first barge from the harbor and take a straight course towards his home on the island of Idhra. There he could finally spent his days of retirement in solitude.

But somehow he simply knew deep down inside who would be the one taking care of this Cyclops problem: the kid, obviously. Phil's pride told him to turn away, but he really felt for the kid and no matter what the kid had done, Phil couldn't turn his back for him, not now when he obviously needed him the most.

So Phil abandoned his original plan, hurrying back to the direction of the city-centre of Thebes. The agonized screams of people told him that he was taking the right direction: the smoke filled the air, it was almost impossible to breath. He noticed how the whole sky had turned black, as inky black as night, only the flashing of occasional lightning bringing some brightness to the world. Phil feared the worst: wasn't Thebes the only place under attack, was the mount Olympus itself the main target?

As Phil tried his best to make haste, he passed a stable near that infamous stadium, where he and the kid had fought over that girl. He was trying his best not to ponder on that matter (he feared that thinking about that event would make him question why he was still hurrying to aid the kid), but something caught his attention: the sound of familiar whinnying. Phil peered inside and true enough, he found the winged companion of his pupil trapped there. The flying horse had been wrapped into ropes and as he tried his best to fight against his shackles, he only got even more entangled with them.

Phil approached the stallion slowly, trying his best to calm him down.

"It's okay boy, let's get you free," Phil muttered as he patted the horse's snout. Phil's mind was working overtime as he disentangled the knots: someone had been tampering with Pegasus and now both the kid and possibly Olympus itself were under attack. He only hoped that he had time to straighten things up with the kid.

After Pegasus was freed, Phil leaped into its back and even without giving him direct orders, the flying horse headed towards the giant monster, which was easy enough to spot from every angle and direction. Momentarily Phil wondered if Pegasus could sense his master's distress or did he simply assume that he would find Hercules at the heart of action? No matter the reason, their destination proved to be correct: Hercules was alone facing the great monster.

As Phil feared, it turned out that Hercules wasn't fighting like he used to, he wasn't using his head nor his strength. It almost seemed as if the kid had lost his strength as well as his will to fight.

He felt desperation creeping in. If Hercules would lose, all would be lost for Thebes and maybe for the whole Cosmos itself.

* * *

Even before she heard the people screaming, Meg knew something was wrong. There was dread hanging in the air. The unnatural stillness before something goes horribly wrong. The night had grown dark, much darker than it usually was.

Then she finally heard it: she could the screams of her people and she smelled the smoke in the air as well. Something truly had gone horribly wrong. All her fears were becoming very real.

"Alright, time to get back to the palace. Come now, my dear princess. Your father will be overjoyed as I present you back to him, without a scratch on that pretty face," Autolycus replied, inching closer to her.

Meg gathered herself from the dusty ground of the stadium. No. She did not have the luxury of collapsing and turning away from whatever was happening. If something was wrong, she would have to do something. She was responsible for this all in, so she had to do something _right now_.

"Where are you going?" Autolycus snapped as his gaze followed her, but she didn't bother to reply.

_Hercules._ He had left the stadium, where was he? She felt terrified: somehow she knew she would find him in the centre of all chaos, even if he had given his strength away for her. And in that case, he was in serious trouble.

No, she couldn't handle that, she already felt terrible for letting her guilt take over her as she had said all those horrible things at him. She needed to know he would be alright, she could never forgive herself if he wasn't.

Meg started running, ignoring Autolycus calling after her.

The masses of people were frantically running around in a blind panic. It took some effort for Meg to be able to gather enough information on what was happening.

A Cyclops was attacking the city and Hercules was fighting against it: obviously from what she had heard from various conversations, the fight wasn't going well for his side. Even more so, now the Titans were freed and attacking to mount Olympus and as Meg had been kidnapped, she had heard enough of Hades' plans to know he was the leader of this attack.

A cosmic takeover. Suddenly all her own problems started to seem mundane.

First of all, she needed to find Hercules.

She needed to make sure he would be alright.

If only she hadn't said all those careless, hurtful things to him: she felt guilty, angry at herself. Even if she had not acted in a manner proper for her position, she should have taken it all out on him. She was just as responsible, maybe even more responsible than him. And no matter what she had told him, she felt something for him and she herself wasn't ready to admit the depths of her own feelings. She couldn't let anything happen to him: she wouldn't.

She needed to make sure he was in the right headspace to win the fight against the gigantic Cyclops.

Then they needed figure out how to turn this situation around: she knew he had done wonders before and she was certain that he would be able to do so now as well, with his powers or not: if only he could keep his head leveled. But she trusted him.

She took her course to the nexus of the most commotion: she was certain, that Hercules had went to face the Cyclops even without his strength.

She could only hope that she would arrive there in time.

* * *

Phil had tried his best to guide his student, but all his attempts seemed to be in vain. From what he had gathered from his student, Hercules had indeed given up his strength in the exchange for the princess' safety. Something had gone sour between the two of them, that much Phil could tell from the information he had gathered from Hercules.

Suddenly he spotted a small figure, hurrying to their direction.

Finally he could make out her outline: it was that princess, Megara. What on Elysian fields could she want here?

His attention was violently pulled back to Hercules, who had been thrown around by the Cyclops like a rag-doll. Hercules groaned as he made impact with the ground: even with his superhuman stamina, he couldn't last much longer.

"What are you doing here?" Hercules huffed out as he made out the form of Megara.

"I heard you were in trouble, I was worried…" She started, but Hercules wouldn't let her carry on.

"I don't need your worry," he snapped back at her.

"It's not what you think, okay? I'm sorry about all those things I said, but I do care and much more than you know!" Meg snapped back, which left Hercules momentarily silent. Meg used the opportunity and continued speaking.

"Look, I know what I said was wrong, but this is all plan of Hades! His taking over mount Olympus, and he's only using the Cyclops to hold you up! This obviously has been his plan all along!" desperate Meg carried on. Phil groaned: this certainly confirmed all his suspicions.

"Look kid, if what she says is true, you are needed up there! This guy is a pushover, look at him!" Phil motioned with his hand towards the looming figure.

"Dreams are for rookies," Hercules breathed out, directing an accusing look towards Meg.

"No, no, no, no, no kid! Giving up is for rookies! And I came back, she came back, because we ain't quitting on you! I'm willing to go the distance, how about you?" Phil placed his hand on his student's jaw, looking deep in his eyes.

Somehow Phil's words woke some spark inside of Hercules and he attacked the great monster with new ferocity. He took a burning piece a wood, almost like a torch, pushing into the one, massive eye of the beast. With great yell, the monster let go of him and as he fell to the ground, he felt something beneath him. A cart and a rope.

_'Work with what you got, kid.'_ Phil's old teaching came back to him and before he had even time to ponder upon it, he got up and enfolded the rope around the creature's legs.

The great monster lost its balance, collapsing off the cliff. Hercules hurried to the edge of the cliff, still not believing his stunt had paid off. He did not notice the almost soundless grinding of the stone as a pillar, disturbed by the impact of the monster hitting the ground below, started collapsing towards him.

Meg, however, did notice it.

"Hercules, look out!" Her panicked voice alarmed him, put before he had any time to react to it, he felt himself pushed aside. Then he heard of sound of something collapsing and the finality of the sound frightened him.

He rose to look at direction of the commotion and then he saw it: Meg was pinned to the ground by the massive amount of the stony pillar weighing her tiny form down.

_'No. No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening.'_ Hercules' mind tried to deny what had just happened, but at the same time, he heard himself calling for her desperately.

He was on his feet before he even realized he had gotten up, all his own injuries forgotten. He had to help her: he wanted to curse the deal he had made with Hades, for much it had help Meg to give up his strength for her.

Desperately he tried to pull the pillar away from her with all his strength but suddenly he felt strangest sensation, enveloping him and radiating around him. And then the pillar rose away from Meg easily.

_'What?'_ his mind wondered momentarily, but then he tossed the pillar aside and rushed to Meg's side.

Meg had used her hand to push herself to her back: Hercules wanted to thank all the Gods for the miracle that she had actually survived the impact, but he could tell only by looking at her state that she was feeling much more pain than she was actually letting on.

"Oh Meg…" He breathed out as he collected her to his arms as gently as he could.

"Nice reflexes. You truly are a Wonderboy," Meg grinned at him weakly, repeating the same choice of words she had said to him the first time they had met. Hercules involuntarily chuckled, feeling even more worried for her condition after noticing her wincing from pain. She was feeling worse than she was letting on.

"Hades' deal is broken, he promised you I wouldn't get hurt," she than quietly reminded him the conditions of the deal he had stroke. The grim irony of the situation hit him: he had been ready to give up his strength for her, risking thousands or maybe millions of lives, because of her. Despite all that, she was still the one paying the price for his foolishness.

"Meg, wh-why did you? You didn't have to…" Once again he found himself struggling for words.

"People always do crazy things… When they're in love," she weakly smiled him.

"Oh Meg…" He simply breathed out. He felt his emotions overwhelming him: she responded to his feelings, she felt the same as he did! Whatever she had said before did not matter, all that mattered was getting her better. They needed to find her help: he could fix this, even if he made mistakes, he could always fix things! There had to be a way, his mind was rapidly going through every possibility.

"You haven't got much time, put you can still stop Hades," Meg quietly carried on and he was taken aback. No, why would he do that when she needed him more, he needed to help her, save her! Everything else could wait.

But of course the Cosmos itself couldn't wait, no matter what was happening to her. Suddenly he realized that it was his duty and it was what she wanted him to do: to make sure her people and all the people in Greece would be safe.

"I'll look after her kid," Phil quietly promised, pushing a rock for her to lay her head on. Hercules wanted to argue, to disagree, but instead, he found himself gently lowering her down to the ground.

"You'll be alright, I promise," Hercules solemnly told her, noticing the sadness of her smile. Before he had time to regret his decision, he rushed to Pegasus.

_'I'll come back to you, Meg. I promise. I can fix this,'_ he silently vowed as he mounted Pegasus and the two of them took the direction of mount Olympus.

* * *

-A/N: So I thought really hard on the storyline and how much it will follow the original movieplot and how much it will differ. And there are some similarities and differences as well. For example, Meg does not go Phil, because they don't really know each other, do they? But I do think that no matter the differences, some events might turn out the same way as in the original movie, or what do you think?

So, there might be like two or three chapter left to this story, so we're inching towards the end here.

Reviewer shout-outs:

Mariana: Thank you, the newest chapter is now up!

Sakura: Don't worry, the new chapter is now up! Happy to hear that you're still enjoying this!


	12. Winning Yet Still Losing

**Winning Yet Still Losing**

_"Within there's every little memory resting calm with me  
Resting in a dream  
Smiling back at me  
The faces of the past keep calling me to come back home  
Rest calm and remember me."_

_\- Rest Calm_ by Nightwish

* * *

Autolycus had lost Meg to the masses of people, escaping from the attacking monster in a frenzied panic.

For someone who had lived her whole life in the palace, she did have swift feet.

As the worst commotion wore out, Autolycus figured out that the Cyclops had been beaten: had Hades' plan failed after all? Had Hercules still defeated the monster, even though lacking his strength? Autolycus had hard time believing all that, but found no other explanation for the sudden eerie serenity.

After stopping a few by-passers, he found out that Hercules had indeed defeated the Cyclops and they pointed him to the direction where the fight had taken place.

For where was Hercules, there most likely would be his princess.

When Autolycus approached the given location, he witnessed an alarming sight: he saw her, _Megara_, laid to the stony ground, awfully pale and still as if she was placed as a human sacrifice to appease some relentless God. The grotesque sight greeted him before he had even time to understand what had happened.

"Princess!" Autolycus exclaimed, rushing to her side.

"Stay off, pal: she's badly hurt," the small figure beside Megara growled at him. Autolycus recognized him as a satyr and after remaining bemused for a moment, as he recalled that this satyr was indeed Philoctetes, the trainer of Hercules: he had seen the small goat-man fleetingly at the palace, but had never really paid any attention to him.

"I need to take her to the palace, to her family," Autolycus tried to reason, but the satyr shook his head.

"She's not going anywhere, not at the state that she's in. I promised to the kid that I will take care of her and that is exactly what I'm going to do," he snapped at him.

"Princess," Autolycus pleaded to Megara and she momentarily opened her eyes, looking straight at him.

"Leave," Meg quietly whispered out, loathing apparent in her otherwise weak voice.

Autolycus sighed for it was obvious that it was only question of moments when the princess would pass away. There was nothing him or anyone else could do to save her.

Hades' plan had failed as well, that much was obvious and as much as he despised the thought of leaving her to her apparent fate, he himself had still a chance, though. He could hurry to the palace and prove his importance to Creon by telling him exactly what had happened to his city and to his daughter. How Hercules had failed him, putting his daughter at risk. Yes. That he would do.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, the king will not be pleased," Autolycus noted, before pulling away

"Well, I couldn't care less about that, buddy!" Phil barked at him, before taking the girl's hand on his own, trying to give whatever little solace he could.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that. I'm sorry if I've been too harsh on you: I told the kid that you were bad news. I judged you too harshly," Phil confessed, caressing her delicate hand.

"Well, you weren't entirely wrong, were you?" a small smile appeared on her face, before her face broke into another grimace of pain. Phil gave her a sad smile: he finally saw why the kid had been so into her, she was much more than her pretty, her title or her royal position.

"Just save your breath, okay? The kid will come back soon and we will find a way to fix things," Phil tried to reassure her, but she slowly shook her head.

"You don't have to say that to make me feel better. We both know that's not true," Meg pointed out quietly.

Phil tried to disagree, but she continued talking:

"I'm just… Happy that I met him. That my city and Greece itself are saved. He did the right thing. Please tell him that," she whispered before shutting her eyes as another wave of pain it her.

Phil felt tears rising to his own eyes and he found himself unable to respond, he only quietly nodded.

He saw her body tensing and than… Nothing. She became awfully still and limp: her suffering had finally come to an end.

Phil tried to stifle his sob as he placed her small her above her abdomen as he realized there would be no fixing this.

Phil had been keeping his solitary deathwatch for an unknown time as he heard a familiar whinny from the sky. Pegasus. He did not know what he could possible say or do to ease the kid's pain.

Probably nothing would, the kid would be inconsolable.

* * *

Hades' mocking words were playing on his head as Hercules hurried Pegasus to go faster, even faster than it had ever flown before.

_'A friend of yours, who's dying to see me.'_

No. No. It couldn't be: she would be alright, she had to be! Otherwise all he had worked for had been for nothing. Nothing would matter if she – No, he wouldn't even think about it.

Finally they had reached the familiar-looking cliff and before Pegasus had even landed, Hercules jumped down, ready to rush to Meg's side. But he came to a sudden stop: she was still, too still, her form motionless and pale.

"Meg…" Hercules hadn't even realized he had been holding his breath. Phil looked at him, slowly shaking his head with defeat.

"Meg, no," Hercules breathed out as he collapsed to the ground, taking the lifeless body of the woman he loved to his arms.

Only now that she had already passed away, was he able to hold her in his arms the way he had always dreamed of. He shook with silent sobs as he held her: no pain he had experienced ever before matched with this. To know love and beloved, yet that all to be taken away in the matter of a few moments.

He lowered her down to the ground before burying his head to his hands, the stream of the tears burning his eyes.

The regret came soon after his endless sorrow: why hadn't he replied to her when she had told him that she loved him? Why hadn't he been there for her? He had failed the person that had mattered to him the most and there was no going back in time. No matter his efforts, he had still failed her.

"I'm sorry kid, there are just some things you cannot change," Phil patted his shoulder, desperately trying to comfort him before his own voice broke with a sob.

"She wanted me to tell you that you did the right thing, that she was happy to meet you. That saving Greece and the Cosmos was the right choice," Phil told him, his voice cracking as he spoke.

So she had realized her fate: well, she was the smartest person he had met, she had probably realized and accepted her fate long before him. She knew what was coming for her and she still embraced his choice. The level of her unselfishness amazed him.

Anger followed after regret. Hades was the one scheming behind all of this and he had used Meg, putting her in danger.

Hercules would be damned if he would let Hades use Meg as his consolation prize. No, he wouldn't let that happen to her.

Maybe he wouldn't be able to change the course of time, but he might still have the chance to change her fate.

And he would do anything in his power to make sure that Meg would get what she deserved: a chance, a life.

A life she deserved to live.

"Yes, I can," the sudden determination was filling Hercules' quiet voice as he looked up, gritting his teeth together.

* * *

\- A/N: Okay, that was rather emotional. And pretty improper, considering today's Valentine's Day. And this chapter was rather short, but this felt as the most natural way to divide the chapters.

So, sorry for that. But I did want to put something out for you guys just because it's Valentine's Day. We're quickly moving towards the end, I would say we only have two more chapters to go! Wow.

So I'm wishing you guys a pleasant day, no matter what you are doing.

Reviewer shout-out to Sakura: Don't worry, your long wait is now over, the chapter is now up!


	13. Facing the Impossible

**Facing the Impossible**

"Now his love's a memory  
A ghost in the fog  
He sets the sails one last time  
Saying farewell to the world."

\- _Islander_ by Nightwish

* * *

Alone Hercules approached the all too familiar opening, like a lonely, gaping mouth on the side of mountain: the passageway to the Underworld and to the realm of Hades.

Hercules had passed the same opening many times before, but he didn't give any thought to those memories, because he had more pressing matter on his mind. He needed to find Meg, he could not condemn her to this bleak fate. This might be the very final time he would pass this entrance, but even that did not matter to him, for anything beside returning Meg to the world of living seemed superficial, insignificant.

Hercules came to the river of Styx where the eternal ferryman Charon was waiting for him. Charon's mouth curled back, as if the skeletal figure was smiling.

"So, you're after the princess, I presume?" he drily noted.

"I need to reach her, I don't have time…" Hercules begun his angry rant, but stopped as Charon slowly shook his head.

"I'll take you part of the way, no need to persuade me into doing something. It's Cerberus you need to worry about. Hop in, then. Let's not keep the girl waiting for you," Charon replied and without a moment's hesitation, Hercules did as Charon requested.

On his younger years, Hercules had come across Charon during those years several times when he had visited the Underworld, because of a mission or another. He had done small favors for the ferryman of the Dead: maybe he wanted to repay those times now that Hercules himself needed help? Or then again, the ferryman had bone or two to pick with Hades, so he might have helped Hercules just to spite Hades.

When the small ferry reached the other side of the river, Hercules could already hear the tell-tale barking and the flapping of giant paws which shot tremors through the ground. Cerberus was somewhere near, even if he still couldn't see the guardian dog of the Underworld.

"This is as far as I can take you. Good luck, boy," Charon told him as he brought the ferry to a halt.

"Thanks," Hercules handed an obolos to the ferryman before he leapt to the solid ground. The ferryman turned his boat around, already slowly rowing back to the other side.

Hercules didn't need to trek in the darkness for long as he came across the massive guardian of the Underworld: furious beast of a dog with three heads. The creature was angrily growling at him and the stone walls of the cavern around them were vibrating with the sound.

However, Hercules himself was even angrier than the beast himself. Hercules took a firm grip of one of its pawns and hurled the beast around. The cave was now filled with it suffering yelps.

When Hercules let go of it, the giant dog stood before him in a resigned manner.

"Now, take me to your master," Hercules ordered and climbed to the beast's back. The creature started trekking down the maze-like passageways of the Underworld: Hercules knew that the path to Hades was supposed to be tricky to distract those foolish mortals, who wished to see the realm of the Dead, in the hopes of reuniting with their loved ones or bargaining with Hades. Luckily for Hercules, he was only half-mortal.

After what seemed only like a few blinks of an eye, Cerberus broke through a rocky wall and Hercules, still standing on his back, bursting into a large room, which was dominated by a throne of some sorts. The throne was designed especially for the lord of the realm, as Hades himself was seated on it. Hercules had interrupted Hades' angry tirade, it seemed that the deity was still pissed because his great plan had failed him, but the circumstances did not matter to Hercules: there was only one thing that did.

"Where's Meg!" Hercules demanded to know where she was, getting straight to the point.

"Look who's here: Wonderboy, you are too much," Hades mockingly replied as Hercules hurried down from the back of the now obedient beast. The cowering daemons of Hades were studying the exchange safely from underneath a charred table: one could only guess what had happened there.

"Let her go," Hercules growled at Hades as he took a hold of chiton's front.

"Get a grip," Hades suggested, obviously enjoying himself as he witnessed his adversary's distress.

"Come here, come here, let me show you around," Hades placed a way too friendly arm around his shoulder, leading him towards the river Styx.

"Well well, it's a small Underworld, after all," Hades noted as they witnessed Meg's soul, floating in the river, just before them.

"Meg!" Hercules shouted, reaching towards her, but as his hands touched the river, he felt a searing pain, burning away the strength of his arms.

"Tsk, tsk, musn't touch. Meg's running with a new crowd and not _a lively_ one at that," Hades scolded him with a malicious smile on his face.

Hercules mind was working overtime: there had to be some way he could fix this. Meg hadn't done anything wrong, so why would she have to suffer and pay the price for his mistakes? There had to be something he could trade to Hades in order to save her. And then the thought stroke him: of course there was something Hades wanted even more than keeping Meg in the Underworld. He had wanted to get rid of him, right? Meg was the unfortunate casualty in their rivalry and he could use that to bargain with Hades.

"You like making deals: take me in Meg's place," Hercules offered, gesturing towards the river.

"Hphm, the son of my hated rival trapped forever in the river of Dead," Hades pondered aloud. His small companions had moved closer, and were safely hiding in the hem of his long chiton, obviously eager to see how the situation would unfold.

"Going once," Hercules lifted one finger, trying to pressure Hades into striking the deal.

"Is there a downside to this?" the deity of the Death pondered aloud, his mind working through every possible scenario he could come up with.

"Going twice," Hercules announced and Hades gestured frantically.

"Okay! Okay, okay! She goes, you stay!" Hades smiled wickedly as he pointed towards the river.

Without giving it a second thought, Hercules took a dive towards the murky green waters.

"Oh, one more thing: you're dead before you can get to her. That's not a problem, is it?" Hercules heard distantly Hades' mocking words as he made contact with the water. But he could not stop and think about them: the stream of the Dead was ever pulling Meg deeper and deeper. If he wanted to reach her, he would have to give it everything he got. There was not a moment to lose.

So he started swimming even if he felt that same, burning pain he had briefly witnessed before. But now it was filling his every limb as his body made contact with the water. He felt his strength, his life-force and even his lifetime ebbing away with each stroke he took. He felt himself getting weaker, slower and older by each passing moment, but it did not deter him. He still kept his gaze fixed on Meg's form and he kept going towards her, slower and slower by each moment.

She was just out of his reach when he felt that surely his time had come to its end: then suddenly, the pain went away. At the same moment, he got hold of her, taking her wispy form into his gentle arms. He started to make his way back to the shore, all the pain he had only felt moments ago was suddenly gone. He had not time to ponder upon the miracle, he just needed to get out of there and to reunite Meg's soul with her body: he could only pray that his unprecedented stunt would work out the way he wanted.

When Hercules reached the cliff, he started to slowly climb back up and as he made it to the top, he heard Hades' frantic voice: "Thi-this can't be happening, you would have to be a-"

"A God," his ever helpful minions offering the proper choice of words.

A God? So he had earned the position he had been working so hard for so long by saving the one he loved? So be it, it did explain the miracle that had just helped him in achieving the seemingly impossible feat.

The furious Hades was yelling in rage, but Hercules calmly walked pass him. He had no time for Hades' tirades, he had what he had came for and now he needed to make sure Meg would alright.

"Hercules, you can't do this to me, you can't!" Hades raged and Hercules could not control his instinctive reaction and he hit him straight to his face which crumbled with the impact of his fist.

"Fine, okay, well, I deserved that," Hercules heard Hades muttering behind his back.

"Herc, Herc, Herc, can we talk? You're dad, he's a fun guy, maybe you could put a word for him and he would blow this whole thing off?" Hades reached him once again and nervously babbled on, trying to reason with him. _'Which thing? Almost destroying the city of Thebes, taking over the Cosmos or getting the woman he loved killed in the process?'_ angry Hercules pondered as he gritted his teeth together.

"Meg! Meg, talk some sense into him! A little smooch?" Hades was no resorting to the soul of Meg, motionlessly laying on Hercules' arms, moving it around as if it was trying to give him a kiss.

The anger Hercules had somehow managed to keep under his control thus far boiled over and he saw from Hades' expression that the deity himself had already realized that dragging Meg into this had been a mistake. It was that mistake, which made Hercules patience finally snap.

Before Hercules even realized what he was doing, he had a feral sneer on his face and his right hook connected with Hades' jaw. Hades lost his balance because of the punch and he went flying down to river of Styx. Hercules heard his distant yelling, who he tried to reason with the angry souls of the Dead, put he kept moving forward.

He had a promise to keep.

* * *

-A/N: Whew, one more chapter to go, we're really close to the end now. Thank you all for reading and supporting this story!

Reviewer shout-outs:

\- Disneylover12: Really happy you loved it, here's the next chapter!

\- Guest: Here's the next chapter, kudos to you!

\- Sakura: Thank you for your enthusiasm, here's the newest chapter!

\- Bad Jimmy: Thank you, so happy to hear that! Hopefully you'll keep reading this 'til the end!


	14. Reaching the End

**Reaching the End**

_"How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass."_

\- J.R.R. Tolkien

* * *

Phil and Pegasus kept their solemn vigil by Meg's body. For how long had they stayed there, they couldn't say: but they kept waiting, not even knowing what they waited for.

But then, they noticed a figure approaching them and they held their breath, unable to understand what they were seeing. As Hercules finally reached them once again, tangling in his arms the fragile thing that made the one he loved herself.

His two friends studied him and what he carried in his arms with unbelieving eyes: had the kid been actually able to do it, getting a soul from the Underworld and the getting back to the world of the living?

They anxiously studied him as he approached Meg's still form, still as motionless as when he had left her.

He knelt before her, desperately hoping that he would succeed in a thing nobody before him had succeeded in. He inhaled deeply as he let go of her soul, which descended to the body, becoming once again.

For a moment, there was silence and he felt all his hopes plummeting, his world crushing.

Then she inhaled sharply and he exhaled from relief: it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

She looked startled as she looked around her, but as she saw him, she simply smiled at him, humming softly.

"Wonderboy… Wha-what, why did you…?" For once, she was struggling for words: but then again, she had been departed from the world of living for several hours, so he thought she had a good excuse after all.

He helped her to her feet, gently as he softly chuckled.

"People do crazy things… When they're in love," he smiled at her in the most genuine way she had ever seen. Then she realized what he had actually said to her, happiness lighting her beautiful features as she pulled closer to him and he pulled closer to her, and their lips were only few inching away from meeting each other when…

A sudden bolt of lighting. And like magic, they were floating towards the sky, Meg could only assume from his literally shining form and the direction they were headed to, that he had indeed succeeded in his mission: he had finally become a God. He pulled her closer, not wanting to risk losing her again.

As they finally reached the top of the clouds, they were greeted by the sea of cheering Gods and Goddesses. Meg had been brought up at a palace and she had seen her share of luxury, but nothing she had ever seen could compete with this.

Hercules smiled at her, as he pulled away from her and she let go of his hand, reluctantly. With a heavy heart she watched as he climbed up the stairs, reuniting with his divine family and they welcomed him back to where he was rightfully born to be.

She was happy for him: nobody had earned his place more than he had. But she also knew that their brief time together had finally truly come to its end. She would relish her fleeting time with him, but her dream had come to its end. Now, she would have return back to the Earth alone to meet her fate, marrying king Aedes as she was supposed to.

Forlorn Meg headed towards Pegasus, guessing that Hercules' loyal companion would do her and his trainer the one last favor of returning them back to Earth.

She distantly heard Hercules speaking, not really paying any attention on what he said, her mind to occupied with was to come.

When suddenly, she felt someone gently pulling her hand.

She turned to face Hercules, an incredulous look on her face as she studied what he was doing.

"…A life without Meg, even an immortal life, would be empty," He gently took her hand between his own, studying it intently. She could tell that whatever he was going to say wasn't easy for him: but she appreciated that he had come to say goodbye to her.

"I… I wish to stay on Earth with her. I finally know where I belong." First she was not believing her own ears, for surely Meg was only hearing things because she so desperately wanted to hear that he wouldn't be leaving her. But then she realized that he had both said and meant what he had just told them: he was ready to give up what he had worked so hard for just to be with her.

Meg crashed against him, a content sigh escaping her lips as she pressed herself against his chest. She heard him chuckling softly as he wrapped his arms around her.

She too, had found where she belonged to.

As he turned back to a mortal (well, back to being a demigod, to be exact), the young lovers inched towards each other, their lips meeting in a kiss which sealed their fate.

His lips caressed hers softly, but Meg smirked to herself as she placed her other hand her behind his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss and surprising him. He recovered quickly, holding her even closer to himself and she truly felt as if she was in the heaven itself, her feet literally not touching the ground any more.

She heard singing, the Muses themselves had composed a song to commemorate the heroic deeds of Hercules. The kiss was broken much too quickly to her taste by all that was happening around them: all the Gods started a celebration, an exquisite feast.

Before she even knew it, she felt Hercules hands around her as he lifted her to the back of his horse and as jumble of things, they were suddenly swiftly making their way back to the Earth.

And just as the Gods were celebrating on mount Olympus, the mortals were celebrating on Earth.

Among the celebrating people, Hercules could see his adoptive parents, which he ran happily to greet.

Meg however, noticed that Hercules' divine father had also been keeping busy and she moved next to Hercules, nudging him to look towards the sky.

There it was: a constellation of him, displayed to the sky.

"That Phil's boy!" They all heard someone exclaiming and Phil's eyes brimmed with joyful tears as his unrealistic dream had actually turned into reality.

They all went to embrace him, and Hercules and Meg both wanted to relish this moment, to linger on it longer on, believing that all was finally well. That they had all reached their dreams.

But as he shared a look with Meg, they realized they had still somewhere they needed to go and certain people to see.

"Come," he gently told her, taking her hand to his on.

* * *

When Hercules and Megara reached the throne-room, they found the whole royal family there. But they didn't even notice the pair approaching them as they were so engaged in whatever the royal advisor was telling them. Their faces were solemn and most of them were sobbing as Autolycus was keeping a monologue:

"And then, I was finally able to find her, your daughter, my Highness. Hercules had failed in his mission and placed her under danger. She was hurt, fatally hurt, my Lord."

Hercules felt a twinge of guilt: Autolycus might have been exaggerating things, but he had a certain point there as well. Hercules had failed and Meg had paid with her life for his mistake.

Meg took his hand to her own, squeezing it in a comforting manner and gave him a small smile, as if to point out it hadn't been his fault. He smiled back at her: he would blame himself, no matter what, but it did comfort him to know that she wasn't blaming him for what had happened.

"Is it possible that she still lives?" Creon breathed out, looking older than he had ever appeared before.

"I'm sorry, but no, my Highness. Her wounds were fatal, so she must have passed to Hades by now," Autolycus gravely stated.

Harmonia was hugging both Pyrrha and Henioche, both of whom had started sobbing and wailing. Harmonia's quiet tears were falling down her cheeks as she held her grand-daughters close, trying to give them some comfort. Creon had buried his face to his hands, his Autolycus had woeful expression on his face. Only one not fitting to the picture was king Aedes, who didn't appear sad and was simply pondering on how to proceed from now on.

"That's not entirely true," Meg spoke quietly and all eyes turned to her.

For a moment, all of them remained silent, not believing their eyes or ears. Then a collective sigh of relief was released.

"Meg!" her two sisters exclaimed, running to her and pulling her into a fierce hug. Harmonia joined the hug as well, sobbing from relief. When she was released, Meg was pulled to her father's embrace.

"Oh my dear. My dear. I'm so sorry about everything," he breathed out to her as he cradled her in his arms.

Hercules fondly studied the reunion with a soft smile on his face, reminding him of what he had just experienced with his own family.

"Well, this is a joyful occasion," Autolycus proclaimed with a tight smile on his face. He was obviously going through the events inside of his head, trying to find the piece that he had missed.

"How is this possible? Are you alright? My dear, I thought from what Autolycus told us, that surely you would be wounded badly…" Creon studied his daughter with a worried eye.

"I'm alright, father. Hercules… He… Saved me. He went to the Underworld to gather my soul and returned it back to my body. That's the reason why I still live," Meg carefully explained, struggling with what had happened herself.

"Is it true? You did that?" Creon asked from Hercules, his voice breaking with emotion.

"Well… It is, Your Highness," Hercules gently replied, unwilling to take the credit for himself.

"Then me, my family and my whole city-state we all thank you for what you have done. You truly are a hero," Creon stated, nodding his head in acknowledgement. Hercules met the thankful looks of other members of Meg's family as well, even if he felt he didn't really serve their gratitude. One face, however, remained uneasy.

"I only did what I had to. Your Highness, I'm sorry to disturb you during this happy moment, but I have to point this out: it was Autolycus, who betrayed your trust," Hercules then spoke out and all members of the royal family turned their unwavering attention at him, most of their faces slack with an obvious shock. Autolycus himself had paled with this revelation as well.

"Is this true?" Creon boomed, his appearance dark with fury.

"It is true, father. Hades was behind all of those monster attacks and he was the one who kidnapped me. Autolycus was working for him all the time," Meg spoke in, still by her father's side.

"My lord, I can assure…" Autolycus started rambling, quickly backing away from the king's fury.

"Not a one word more, you traitor! To think that I trusted the safety of my family and my city-state for you for years and this is how you re-pay my trust! Guards! Take this traitor and place him to the darkest cell to wait for his verdict!" The king ordered and the guards were quick to do his bidding, dragging the struggling, deceitful advisor away.

"I thank you, Hercules, for returning my daughter safe and sound against all odds, as well as saving my city-state once again and telling the truth about the deception taking place at my own court," Creon approached the young hero, looking peculiarly grateful.

"You don't have to thank me: as I said before, I only did what I needed to do," Hercules shook his head slowly. From the corner of his eye, he saw how Aedes' eyes lingered on Meg's form, which made her shiver. He felt a muscle on the corner of his mouth twitching as the other king had certainly not wasted any time.

"I promised to give you whatever you desire if you would return my daughter safely back to me. And I haven't forgotten about my promise. Now what is that you desire?" The king reminded him of the promise made before.

Momentarily Hercules was taken aback, as he hadn't really thought about it yet. As he studied Meg's form, Hercules suddenly found his resolution and came to a decision.

"Well, there is one thing I'll ask of you: I ask you to let your daughters decide for themselves what they want to do with their lives. I ask you to let Meg decide for herself who she wants to marry, if she ever wishes to do so," Hercules told them calmly, then turning his focus on Meg.

King Creon seemed a bit taken aback by his reply and king Aedes peeled his attention away from Meg, narrowing his eyes at him, showing openly his discontent with his reply.

Meg also looked back at Hercules, also taken by surprise, but then a warm smile filled her face, joyful tears filling her eyes.

Also Henioche and Pyrrha seemed shocked yet hopeful: could it really be that they would be able to make their own decisions?

King Creon was torn between two: if he did as the young hero asked, he would anger king Aedes. But the again, if he wouldn't do as Hercules asked, he would anger the Gods themselves: he had sworn to fulfill his wish in the name of Zeus himself. King Creon closed his eyes, finding his resolution.

"Let it be so. My daughters, including Megara, shall make decisions for themselves from now on," he replied with quiet yet determined voice.

Both Pyrrha and Henioche let a small gasp of shock and excitement as they looked at each other. They never could have dreamed of something such as this happening!

Meg herself broke into a smile lighting her beautiful face and Hercules found it even more beautiful sight than the mount Olympus itself. She moved quickly closer to him and he took her hands to his own, lost in her eyes.

Harmonia smiled contentedly as she watched the young pair: she had a feeling that her grand-daughter had already decided on who she wished to marry.

"What! This is outrageous! Creon, you promised to me that she would be mine!" King Aedes started fuming, but king Creon raised his hand to stop his tirade.

"You heard yourself, you were there: I made a promise for this young hero before the Gods themselves. That kind of promise cannot be broken," king calmly replied.

King Aedes flexed his hand in anger, gritting his teeth together. For a moment, he stayed there, before turning away and hurrying away from them, muttering curses under his breath.

King Creon looked at his daughter and the young hero before nodding at them and hurrying after the other king, possibly trying to amend whatever there was still to salvage.

"We should probably get going as well, girls," Harmonia ushered Meg's two sisters away from the throne-room, still studying the young pair with a knowing smile on her face.

"Why would we… Oh," Henioche was starting to protest, but then she saw the way her sister was looking at the young hero, standing next to her.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to feel like a third feel. Those two aren't even noticing us," Pyrrha objected, but there was no breaking Harmonia's resolution.

"Hush, child. Let them be," she gently told her, trailing after the two girls.

After a short moment of silence, Hercules asked from Meg with a small smile on his face: "So, what are you going to first? As a free and independent young Monarch, that is?"

"I don't know. What do people do after they are brought back from being dead and freed from impending marriage?" Meg responded to his question with another one, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

"Huh, a good point. I really don't know. How about a walk, I know a really nice garden nearby? If you don't mind my company," hopeful Hercules smiled back at her sheepishly.

"I wouldn't mind. At all, actually, in fact _I would love it_," Meg shot him a meaningful smile and he felt a wave of relief washing over him.

"So lead the way, Wonderboy," Meg bumped his elbow with her own before taking his hand to her own and intertwining their fingers.

She gave him as brilliant smile and he found himself smiling back at her, lost in her eyes.

Together, they walked out of the palace gates and headed into a lush, beautiful garden, facing the Aegean sea.

Alone from the world, only the moon Goddess Selene there to witness their meeting, the young pair stayed in the garden, exploring their feelings for each.

And now you may ask for how long did they stay there?

Only they and Selene would know that.

_Fin._

* * *

-A/N: All things come to an end and so has this fic reached its conclusion. I thank all my readers for the encouragement, when I first started this I hadn't quite figured things out and because of your kind words, I decided to see this through. So thank you!

The ending, however, was clear on my mind since the beginning. In the original myth, Creon rewards Hercules from his heroic deeds by offering Megara to him as some sort of reward. And I always thought that was so lame and didn't fit the relationship between Meg and Hercules in the Disney's version at all. So, I obviously wanted to change that, since I don't see our Herc as a sort of person who would accept himself a bride as some sort of trophy and Meg isn't the kind of person to involve herself in such. So yeah, I wanted her to gain the freedom to do whatever she pleases.

I did write different versions of how events would unfold, but in the end decided to follow pretty closely the original Disney version of Meg sacrificing herself and Herc saving her afterwards. I honestly love that part of the movie so much I couldn't just rewrite it. And I like the concept that even though some details might be altered, we might still come to almost exactly the same ending.

I think it might be quite obvious at this point that I'm a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien. The personality of Autolycus was much inspired by Grima Wormtongue (I actually do imagine he even looks like him, just slightly skinnier), just wanted to point that out.

So here we are, thank you all for reading and take care! I might come up with some new AU concept, but right now, I'm gonna take a short breather and concentrate on my other fic.

Reviewer shout-outs:

-Bad Jimmy: I think we all were waiting for this, I'm glad it was worth it!

-Zakura: Here's the last chapter, happy to hear that you've enjoyed this story so much! Thank you for being such a loyal follower!


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